Stigma of the Void
by Leo Septem
Summary: Louise Valliere wanted a strong familiar to prove that she wasn't a failure. What she got was the only living Contractor in existence, Kazuma Yagami. Crossover between Zero no Tsukaima and Kaze no Stigma.
1. Chapter 1 - The Wind From Another World

**Chapter 1 – The Wind From Another World**

In retrospect, I consider this as some divine power's way of saying, "Don't return to Japan," because there is no way any magic or technology on Earth should have been able to do this. I had been on a one-way flight from Europe to my homeland of Japan, when some kind of portal suddenly appeared in front of me and swallowed me whole before I could react.

And now here I was, wherever I was. In front of me was a very young and petite girl with bright pink hair. Strangely, the pink hair looked to be completely natural. Judging by her facial features and skin color, I assumed she was of Caucasian descent.

In one hand she held a polished wooden stick. A wand, from the looks of it. She also wore an outfit not dissimilar to that of school uniforms in Japan. The only difference was that she also wore a cloak around her. She strangely reminded me of the "magical girl" genre of anime that was popular in Japan.

Despite the fact that I was much taller than her, she only barely coming up to my chest, she was looking down on me. Whatever had brought me here, hadn't done so gently. My body felt as if it had been electrocuted, leaving me to lie on the grassy ground almost completely paralyzed.

"Who are you?" the pink-haired girl said.

"Kazuma Yagami," I grunted as I forced myself to sit up with no small amount of effort. "Where am I?"

The girl ignored me. Instead, she turned around to face a balding, middle-aged man dressed in humble brown robes and wearing glasses.

"Professor Colbert! Please let me redo the summoning!" the girl pleaded.

"I'm afraid not, Miss Valliere," Colbert shook his head. "The summoning ritual is a sacred rite. One cannot simply 'redo' it because they're dissatisfied with their familiar, even if that familiar is... unusual."

"But Professor Colbert!" the pink-haired girl whined.

"Enough," Colbert said with a note of finality. "I have already allowed you to try this again once class was over, something that has never been done before. Now please finish the contract."

The girl sighed with a tone of defeat and turned to face me. "Be grateful that I'm doing this with you, commoner." She pointed her wand at me and said, _"My name is Louise Francoise LeBlanc de La Valliere."_

Shit. I had no idea what she was planning to do, but I had a bad feeling about it. Magical tools like wands being pointed at you was usually not a good sign. I needed to move. Come on my body! Move!

"_In the name of the Five Pentagonal Powers, bless this humble being and make him my familiar."_

Dammit. I'm going to have to create a wind barrier to protect me. The girl then leaned in and kissed me on the lips.

...

Okay. Not quite what I was expecting.

And almost immediately thereafter, it felt as if my insides had been lit on fire.

"Urgh," I grunted as I clutched my chest and clenched my teeth. I forced myself to endure the pain that was flaring inside me. Had it not been for my prior experience being burned regularly by the Kannagi family as a child, I would surely have been screaming loudly at the moment. Despite the burning pain, or perhaps because of it, I couldn't help but wonder if the girl had somehow forced me to ingest a deadly poison.

The burning sensation began to move like a living thing, spreading everywhere inside my body at first, before rapidly concentrating into my left hand, where it felt as if someone was taking a searing hot knife and carving it directly into my flesh. This time I did let out groans of pain. Thankfully, however, it lasted for only half a minute before the pain suddenly vanished entirely. In its place was a set of runes engraved into the back of my left hand.

"What the hell is this?" I demanded from the girl, Louise.

"That's just the Familiar's Runes," Louise replied dismissively.

Colbert knelt down beside me and stared carefully at my left hand. "What strange runes. I don't think I've ever seen their like before, yet they seem vaguely familiar. Hmm..." Colbert shook his head and stood back up to full height and looked towards Louise. "In any case, you have successfully managed to summon your familiar. Congratulations, Miss Valliere."

"Thank you," Louise said glumly.

With one last reassuring smile at the girl, Colbert walked away towards a large, medieval style castle not too far away, leaving only me and the girl in the grassy courtyard.

"Who are you!?" Louise whirled towards me and demanded.

"Ah? I already told you," I said, annoyed. "Are you deaf?"

"Watch your tongue, commoner!" Louise said angrily. "You are my familiar! That means I am your master from now on!"

My body was starting to return to normal, more quickly than I had anticipated. A few more minutes and I would be completely recovered.

"Fine. I'm Kazuma Yagami," I reintroduced myself.

"What a weird name," Louise frowned.

"I'm sure it is around here," I said acerbically. "Now, what's this about me being your familiar?"

"It means what I said," Louise replied in a matter-of-fact tone. "I performed the summoning ritual, summoned you, and finished it with the contract. Those runes on your hand are proof of that." Louise looked at me and sighed and shook her head. "But why did I have to get stuck with you! I wanted something cool like a dragon or a griffin or a manticore! At the very least an eagle or an owl!"

I rolled my eyes. This girl basically kidnaps someone with magic and she's worried about her own disappointments instead of the possibility she just ripped a person away from his friends and family? I mean, it wasn't as if I had either, but it was the principle of the thing.

"Then can you send me back?" I asked. "Or at the very least cancel this 'familiar' thing so you can try again?"

"No," Louise said promptly. _"Summon Servant_ is a one-way spell. And the contract between a familiar and summoner only ends when the familiar dies."

I carefully stood up, my body finally having returned back to normal. "Oh? And what exactly does a familiar do anyway?"

"They're servants and guardians," Louise said. "They carry out whatever orders their master gives them unconditionally and protects their master from any and all threats."

"I see, I see," I nodded understandingly. "And what happens if they refuse to obey?"

"You know," Louise looked at me with an annoyed expression, "you are speaking to your master much too familiarly. You must show me proper respect when you speak. To start with, you will henceforth address me as 'Master.'"

"Hmm. Yeah, I don't think so," I said. "Unfortunately for you, I stopped bowing to others four years ago. And even if I didn't stop, I wouldn't bow to some random person who magically kidnapped me and declared herself my master out of nowhere."

"What?" Louise said in ludicrous anger. "You must! You are my familiar!"

I shrugged. "What happens if I don't?"

"You'll be punished," Louise said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"By whom?"

"Me," Louise glared at me.

I blinked at Louise for a moment. Then I started laughing. "You can try it if you want," I chuckled. "But you're probably not strong enough to punish me. Besides that, it seems that whatever your 'contract' was supposed to do, it isn't working on me. You have no way of making me be your slave."

"Hmph. We'll see about that," Louise said. "Come with me, familiar."

-SCENE BREAK-

"Alright," Louise said as she pulled out a long, leather whip from her drawer. Why the hell did a thirteen year old girl have a whip of all things just lying around in her room? "Stay right there and we can get this over with only a light punishment."

I smiled and shrugged nonchalantly. "Punish away."

Louise narrowed her eyes, but slung the whip at me. However, I called upon the wind spirits to protect me like a skintight armor. When the whip came down on me, it was blocked and the kinetic energy absorbed by the wind spirits, leaving me entirely unharmed. To Louise, it seemed as if the whip had suddenly and inexplicably lost all its power and speed and simply fell from me like a wet noodle.

"That's weird," Louise muttered as she brought the whip back and lashed with it again.

Once more, the wind spirits protected me and caused the whip to simply fall away from me without harm. Three more times Louise tried this, and three more times she failed.

"Alright, how in Brimir's name are you doing that?" Louise finally said in frustration.

"Doing what?" I asked genially.

"You're making my whip not hurt you," Louise said. "I don't know how, but you are."

"Me?" I said in mock surprise. "Why, I'm not doing anything." And that was the truth. I myself was not doing a single thing. It was the efforts of the spirits of the wind that was protecting me. But she didn't need to know that. "Perhaps you should try harder?"

With an angry growl, Louise lashed the whip at me with all the strength her tiny body could muster. The result did not change.

"Is this what you meant when you said I'm not strong enough to punish you?" Louise demanded.

"It could be," I allowed.

"Familiar, when your master asks you a question, it is your duty to answer completely and honestly," Louise said.

"And if I don't?" I said, all jest and amusement gone from my face, replaced with a cold, hard expression. "What will you do? Punish me? Can you?"

Louise clenched her teeth together, but said nothing.

"Here's the deal," I said. "You answer my questions, and I'll answer yours. First of all, where am I?"

Louise glared at me before responding. "You're at the Academy of Magic, in Tristain."

"Tristain?" I frowned. "Where the hell is that?"

"What do you mean where is it?" Louise said ludicrously. "It's north of Gallia and west of Germania."

Tristain? Gallia? Germania? What the hell was she talking about? I'm fairly confident that there are no countries by that name, though the last one's name was similar to Germany. But maybe I'm wrong. The world is big and has a lot of countries. It's possible that even I don't know about all of them.

"Okay, let's broaden the scope a little," I said. "In what continent am I on?"

I had still been over Europe when I was suddenly summoned here, but magic involving teleportion had a nasty tendency to disregard silly notions such as the concept of distance. It was entirely possible I was in a completely different continent.

"You're in Halkeginia."

I blinked at Louise. Halkegini-what?

"Is that some kind of local term for Europe or North America or something?" I said quizzically.

"Europe? North America?" Louise mirrored my quizzical expression. "What are you talking about?"

"What am _I_ talking about? What are..." I paused as a horrible, sinking sensation suddenly filled me from the depths of my stomach.

Impossible. That was impossible. The only reason why I even thought of it was because of the movies I've watched before. It was definitely impossible. Right? I walked over to the window and looked upward towards the sun. Judging by its position, it was probably six in the afternoon at least.

"Hey, why'd you stop talking?" Louise said.

"There's something I need to make sure of," I said grimly. "And it has to wait until night."

-SCENE BREAK-

No. Way. No fucking way.

I gawked as I stared at the night sky from the window in Louise's room. At first, I had only intended to use the position of the stars to ascertain my position and to either verify or disprove my theory. But it was the other, more salient celestial body that confirmed my fears. Or, in this case, the other, more salient celestial bod**ies**.

On Earth, there was only one moon. What I was seeing now were two silvery orbs hanging in the night sky. This meant only one thing.

I was no longer on Earth.

"Wow," was the only thing I could say. I was not prone to being shocked speechless, but this was beyond even my imagination.

"What?" Louise said impatiently. She had been attempting to ask me questions for a few hours now as I waited patiently for the sun to set. I had steadfastly refused to answer until I had finished my questions. All of my questions.

"Congratulations, Louise," I said. "You are the ultimate kidnapper."

"I am not a kidnapper!" Louise protested angrily.

"Hm... You summon a person against his will, forcibly place some kind of magical contract on him while he can't move, which fortunately failed to elicit his magically compelled obedience, and then expect him to call you master?" I said sarcastically, regaining some of my previous vigor. "You're right. Kidnapper is much too light a term. Slaver would be much more appropriate."

"The summoning ritual is a highly sacred rite!" Louise said angrily. "It has been handed down to us from Brimir himself from 6,000 years ago!"

"Wow. A history of slavery that spans 6,000 years. That's almost impressive in its own way. Tell me, did Brimir ever manage to kidnap a person from another world?" I asked. "Because that's what you did. I'm not from this world."

"I'm telling you! It's not kidnap-... Wait, what did you say?"

"I said I'm from another world," I repeated.

Louise blinked at me, then sighed and shook her head. "Not only did I summon a commoner, I summoned a crazy, disobedient commoner."

I snorted. Guess I can't blame her for not believing me. I wasn't entirely sure if I believed myself.

"Well, whatever," I said as I walked over to the door and opened it.

"Where are you going?" Louise asked.

"Don't worry. I have no intention of running away. I'm just going to find some place to sleep," I said. "You'll understand if I don't much feel like sleeping in the same room or answering the questions of the one who kidnapped me and attempted to whip me. "

Before she could answer, I shut the door behind me and walked down the halls as I let my thoughts run through my mind.

Another world. Wow.


	2. Chapter 2 - The Duel

_Author's Notes:_

_Alright. This is the obligatory Guiche fight chapter, and I really hate this chapter honestly and just rushed it to get it over with. Hopefully the quality is okay. If not, well, sorry. _

_-__**STORY START-**_

"Excuse me, you can't be sleeping here. Excuse me?"

I yawned as I blinked my eyes open sleepily. Looking down at me was a cute girl with black hair and dressed in a modest French maid's outfit. I sat up and looked around for a moment as I tried to remember where I was.

Judging from size and appearance of the place, it appeared that I was in dining hall, where I had been using a long dining table's bench as a bed in a manner similar to a hobo and a park bench.

"Ah, my bad." I yawned again. "I'll just get going now then."

At that exact moment, my stomach growled hungrily and loudly. Hearing that, the girl giggled cutely.

"Please," she said, "follow me."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Siesta," I said as I greedily ate a loaf of hot, fresh bread and followed it with a drink of wine, "you are a truly kind person."

"Thank you, Kazuma," Siesta, the maid, said cheerfully. "What were you doing sleeping in the dining hall anyway?"

"Hm? Ah, well I was summoned by a girl named Louise," I explained as I bit into a chunk of cheese, "but for certain reasons, I decided to sleep elsewhere."

"You were summoned by Miss Valliere?" Siesta said, her eyes going wide. "You're a familiar?"

"So they say," I said as I ate a spoonful of soup.

"I'm sorry to hear that," Siesta said with genuine sincerity. "Those nobles always do whatever they like to commoners just because they can use magic and we can't."

"Is that so?" I said. "Is that how it is everywhere?"

"It is so," Siesta nodded.

I see. So in this world, or at least in this continent, magic and the supernatural were not hidden from the public view. Rather, magic played a far more open and integral role to society here. And for whatever reasons, whether it be blood or training costs or whatever, the nobles here were the only ones who could use magic and used it to lord over those who could not, the commoners.

"Sounds rather oppressive," I said.

"It is," Siesta said, her face turning dark, an expression that was almost painful to see because of how it marred her natural beauty. "There are many cases where nobles have outright stolen a commoner's most prized possessions or even taken away their daughters for themselves."

"And none of the other nobles tries to stop those corrupt ones, right?" I asked.

"Indeed," Siesta nodded firmly. "Though there are some good nobles, for the most part they're all corrupt."

"Fame and power tends to do that," I agreed as I finished off the last of the breakfast Siesta had provided me.

At the same time, a few more maids and men in chef's outfits began to stream into the kitchen.

"I should get going for now," I said. "Thank you for the meal."

"It's not a problem," Siesta replied happily as she forced her dour expression to change back into its former cheerful one. "Have a good day, Kazuma."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Where have you been?" Louise said the moment I knocked on her door and she opened it.

"Sleeping, waking up, eating," I listed as I walked into the room and closed the door. "In that order."

The pink-haired girl was still dressed in her nightclothes, elegant things made of soft pink silk, and judging from her messy hair, had clearly just woken up.

"Anyway," she said. "You're coming with me to breakfast and my classes. Hurry up and change my clothes."

I blinked at the girl and then chuckled softly. Whether it be because she was too stupid or too stubborn and prideful, this girl simply refused to let me get away without acting like her slave. Unfortunately for her, I had no intention of ever being one.

"No," I said. "You have a perfectly capable set of arms and hands. Use them to change yourself."

Louise glared at me. "You are my familiar. Why can't you just listen to me?"

"Your familiar, huh?" I mused. "Between the two of us, you're the only one who thinks that way."

"Grrr..." Louise growled. "Fine! As punishment, no food for you for breakfast then."

"Uh, weren't you listening to me when I said I ate?" I pointed out.

"Then I'll tell the servants to not give you any more food from now on!" Louise declared.

"Eh. Good luck with that," I said as I recalled Siesta's clear dislike for nobles. I had little doubt that if I explained my situation, she would sneak me some food. And if not... Well, I could always steal some. "So are you going to change yourself and get to breakfast or wait around forever to try and force me to do it for you?"

**-SCENE BREAK-**

True to her word, Louise attempted to block me from eating any breakfast. There had been a plate of stale bread and bowl of tepid soup that she had had prepared for me prior to our arrival, but Louise had ordered a maid to take it away.

Despite her protests, I simply sat myself at the seat beside Louise and took a cup of wine and began sipping at it. When she got mad at me for it and I pointed out that she had only banned me from eating food and that wine was only a drink, it only served to enrage Louise even further and amuse me even more, which was the biggest reason why I continued doing it, despite her new ban on my drinking of the "noble's wine."

"Ara, if it isn't Louise the Zero."

Both Louise and I turned around to see a redhead with a vivaciously seductive figure and face standing before us. I looked her over and found myself nodding ever so slightly in a subconscious approval. Very nice.

"What do you want, Kirche?" Louise spat angrily.

"I thought I would offer you my condolences for failing to summon a familiar," Kirche said with a smug smirk that clearly said that she was here to do anything but offer her condolences.

"For your information," Louise growled, "I _did_ summon a familiar after class. So there." Louise stuck out her tongue like an immature kid. Not surprising, I guess, since she seemed to be around 13 or 14 years old.

"Oh?" Kirche said with an amused look. "Where is it then?"

The flushed expression on Louise's face clearly indicated that she just realized she had dug herself into a deeper hole.

"Hm? So where's this familiar?" Kirche said, her lips quivering as she struggled to hold back a mocking laughter.

Silently, Louise jabbed a finger over in my direction. Kirche followed the finger and stared at me.

"This commoner is your familiar?" Kirche asked ludicrously.

Louise clenched her teeth and nodded.

"Pfft!" Kirche finally began laughing loudly. "I knew you were just a Zero, but I never thought even _you_ could fail that badly!"

"Shut up, Zerbst!" Louise spat. "Just go away!"

"Fine, fine," Kirche chuckled. As she began walking away, I heard her mutter quietly to herself, "A commoner as a familiar. Wait till everyone hears about this."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

True to Kirche's words, the rumor of Louise's familiar (me) had spread like wildfire. When we arrived into the classroom, we had immediately become the subject of ridicule by Louise's peers. Or rather, _she_ had been the subject of ridicule. As both a "commoner" and a familiar, I tended to be beneath these people's notice for the most part. It was only until the teacher arrived that the abuse finally ceased, though there was still much chuckling and giggling in the classroom.

Ignoring that, though, I never thought I'd be in school again, not since I left home four years ago at the age of 18. But here I was, sitting in class and learning. And while it was true that what I was learning about was something you'd never see being taught in any Earth curriculum, school was still school. Dull, tiresome, and enlightening.

As Professor Colbert, the balding man who had commented on my runes the day before, lectured about these people's "Elemental Magic," and fire magic in particular, I learned that their magic and the elemental techniques of my world, such as my Fuujutsu, had passing similarities, but were also distinctly different.

Everything in the world is governed by certain immutable laws known collectively as the Initial Principle by those who knew of the existence of the supernatural, or more commonly known as the laws of nature amongst the mundane population, though that was only a part of the Initial Principle. To say it simply, the Initial Principle is like the guiding purpose for each and every thing in existence. It was what told fire to burn, water to be wet, bees to produce honey etc. etc. Outside of supernatural methods, it was impossible to genuinely deviate the Initial Principle in the slightest from its nature, and even then it could only be done temporarily.

This was fortunate because the Initial Principle is what keeps the entire world intact in its current state of reality. If the Initial Principle did not exist or was made fluid for a long period of time, the spirits of the elements of the world would run rampant and bring about absolute chaos.

The magic of the Halkeginian's worked by temporarily manipulating or altering the Initial Principle, but in the end, they still abide by it. This was how they could do things such as making fire appear from thin air. Scientifically speaking, the fire was probably created by accelerating the air particles and molecules and using the friction to generate fire. To put it simply, Elemental Magic used supernatural means to bring about natural phenomena.

The Seirei Jutsu, or Spirit Techniques, of Earth was fundamentally different. Instead of abiding by the Initial Principle like Elemental Magic, Seirei Jutsu worked by completely overwriting it, temporarily creating new laws according to the user's will that reality accepted. Because of this, the most important thing about jutsus was to have a strong enough will to exert the change by working with the spirits of your chosen element. In my case, wind.

Doing this allowed what would otherwise be natural phenomena to do unnatural things. For example, an Enjutsushi, a Fire Technique user, could create fire that would burn only the intended target, leaving everything else untouched, or even to allow it to burn while underwater, though that took an exceptionally powerful Enjutsushi. Or if a dimensional kekkai – a barrier - were to be formed, these people's magics would have no effect on it because the natural world simply cannot affect something that does not exist in the same dimension. But if I were to use Fuujutsu, I could break it open, assuming that the person who made the kekkai wasn't stronger than me.

"And so, can anyone here tell me about what the main attributes of fire magic are?" Colbert asked the class as he stood behind a table that had something large and covered in cloth set on it.

"Passion and destruction," Kirche answered promptly.

Colbert nodded. "Just so. That is the answer most people agree to. However, I believe there is more to fire magic than just that. I believe that fire is also a protector and a creator. Fire is what protected primitive man from the most dangerous of beasts. Fire is what allows us to cook great food. Fire can create metal alloys that earth magic is simply incapable of. Fire is more than just destruction. And as such, I present to you all my latest invention!"

With a theatrical flair, Colbert pulled off the cloth to unveil some kind of weird machine. Hm? Isn't that...?

"By igniting the oil stored within this construct, it sets off a series of chain reactions that allows it to create kinetic energy, causing motion," Colbert explained happily. "Watch."

Colbert stuck his wand into one of the pipes of the machine and muttered a spell. The machine immediately began to whir and click and released dirty black smoke from its many pipes. After a moment, a trap door at its end opened, releasing a silly red snake.

"... Is that it?" Kirche asked, clearly unimpressed. Many of the other students nodded in agreement.

"Well... Yes," Colbert said hesitantly. "But this is just the prototype, mind you! Once I develop this further, it is entirely possible to do things such as allowing carriages to move without horses. It can simplify the lives of everyone, not just nobles. Most importantly, however, it can be used even without magic! I may have used fire magic to ignite it for the demonstration, but something like a flint could be used by even a commoner to ignite it."

"Huh. That's an engine," I said without thinking, somewhat impressed. An engine was the last thing I had expected to find here. I had been under the impression that the people of Halkeginia lived in the equivalent of Europe's Middle Ages. This man, by himself, had just gone forward a few centuries in terms of technological progress.

"An engine?" Colbert looked at me quizzically.

Ah, dammit. I hadn't meant to say that loud.

"Yeah," I said, resigned to my fate of having to explain. "Where I'm from, it's really common and highly useful. It can do what you just described, but also a lot more."

I considered telling him that humans have even gone to the moon thanks to very powerful engines, but decided against it. To these primitive people, such a feat would no doubt come across as impossible and a lie. Most of all, however, it was too troublesome to explain everything.

"Truly?" Colbert had an excited expression on his face. I couldn't help but wonder how he would react if he knew that the humans of Earth had even gone into outer space thanks to engines. "You're Miss Valliere's familiar, are you not? Tell me, where are you from?"

I felt Louise grip the sleeve of my black jacket and I could practically hear the silent order being transmitted through her glare.

"He's from Rub'al Khali," Louise said as I leaned back in my chair beside Louise.

"You mean the lands beyond the Elven lands?" Colbert blinked in surprise. "I did hear that they have technology far more advanced than our own. But how did you cross... Ah, of course. You were summoned. You did not need to cross those lands to come here. Hmm..." He looked directly at me. "What was your name again?"

"Kazuma."

"Kazuma," Colbert nodded. "You must tell me more about your homeland's technology sometime."

I gave a noncommittal gesture in response.

"Now then," Colbert said as he turned to the rest of the class. "Who wants to try and operate the engine?" Colbert's smile diminished as he looked around the class and saw that no one was raising their hands to volunteer. "Anybody?"

Silently, Louise raised her hand. The class then devolved into chaos.

"Louise! Please don't!"

"Yeah, Zero! You're going to mess everything up again!"

"Louise, you don't have to do this!" Kirche begged.

Colbert himself was looking a little pale. "Ah, I, uh, do need to continue work on this engine of mine, so it's alright if you don't wish to do this, Miss Valliere."

"Nonsense," Louise said with steel in her voice. She stood up and walked down the aisle to the engine with wand in hand. "Even I can do something like this."

Colbert gulped and took three steps away before turning and quickly hiding behind a table. Meanwhile, the rest of the class had ducked behind the cover of their desks. I looked around for a moment, and though I was confused about what exactly they were afraid of, I knew it couldn't be good, so I followed suit and ducked behind the desk, putting up a wind kekkai around me as insurance.

"_Ignite,"_ Louise said.

This was immediately followed by a deafening boom that left my ears ringing. When I stood back up, I saw that the first three rows of tables were completely overturned and there was soot and scorch marks everywhere and centered on Louise. The engine itself had been torn completely asunder, changed into a twisted, melted hunk of metal.

Impressive. Who would have thought that Louise could have held such power while so young?

The soot covered Louise coughed lightly and said mildly, "It seems I've made a small mistake."

"This is why we told you not to do it, Louise!" Kirche said exasperatedly as she peeked over her desk.

"Yeah!" another student cried out angrily. "You always fail! That's why you're Louise the Zero!"

"My engine!"

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Louise the Zero, huh?" I chuckled.

"Yes," Louise said icily as she sat with her back ramrod straight on her bed. "Kirche gave me that nickname because I always fail and cause explosions."

I chuckled a little harder at that. The symmetry was truly funny to me. To think that the one who summoned me would be like my old self. The self who despite being born into the head family of the most powerful Enjutsushis in the world, was unable to use Enjutsu himself.

"Stop laughing at me," Louise snapped.

"Ah, sure, sure," I said as I stifled my laughter. "But you shouldn't worry too much about it. You're only, what, 13 years old, right? And yet you're still in a class with students who look to be around 16 or 17. Maybe you just need to wait a little longer."

Hm? Now why was Louise shaking so uncontrollably with rage right now?

"I AM NOT THIRTEEN YEARS OLD!" Louise screamed. "I'M SIXTEEN!"

"You're only six years younger than me? Impossible!" I blurted out.

That was the last straw, it seemed. Louise pounced from her bed like a jungle cat and launched a flying kick for my head. I casually stepped to the side and dodged the angry strike. Lacking experience in martial arts, and driven entirely by anger, Louise landed clumsily on her butt.

"Don't. Move." Louise hissed as she tried to slap me across the face, an act that required her to stand on tiptoes due to our height difference.

Contrary to her orders, I took a step backwards and avoided the slap. "You really ought to calm down. Maybe you're just a late bloomer and haven't hit puberty yet."

I probably shouldn't have said that.

Louise raged wordlessly as she whipped her wand out and aimed it at me. But as fast as she was, I was faster. The moment I saw the wand in her hand coming up, I lashed my own hand out like a whip, grabbed her wrist, and twisted none too gently, forcing her to drop her wand.

"Ow, ow, ow!" Louise winced as I kept a tight grip on her wrist. "Let go of me, you stupid dog!"

"Sure," I said as I picked up her wand with my free hand and then released her.

"Give me back my wand and face your punishment for angering me," Louise demanded.

"You and I both know that that wouldn't work," I smiled.

"Get back here!" Louise ordered angrily as I turned and walked to the door.

As I left the room, I turned and tossed to Louise her wand before shutting the door behind me. From inside, I could still hear her scream and rage about that "ungrateful, disobedient dog."

Now deprived of my source of entertainment, I decided to wander around the Academy. It took me nearly half an hour for me to meander my way outside to the grassy courtyards where clean white tables were set up.

There, many other students were socializing and had their familiars with them. Moving amongst the gathered students were several maids carrying trays of tea and cakes. Many of the familiars were strange and exotic creatures that I had never seen the like of on Earth, such as the disgusting giant floating eyeball. And when it blinked... Ugh. Disgusting. Others were more mundane, like cats and birds and snakes and the like. Still others were exotic, but familiar, such as the relatively small, light blue dragon that was sunbathing with a petite blue-haired girl with pale skin and glasses sitting beside it and quietly reading a book.

I walked over and sat myself down at an empty table and closed my eyes. There was something I needed to make absolutely sure of. Something that had been bothering me since I realized I was in another world.

Did my contract with the Spirit King of Wind still apply here?

The contract with the Spirit King gave me control over all the winds, but that was on Earth. Did the Spirit King have any authority over this world? Did he even exist in this world at all? Chances are that he did, considering my Fuujutsu was still working, but I still needed to be sure.

I delved into the deepest center of my consciousness and my entire world suddenly turned black, save for a set of enormous doors, so large that it made me look like an ant in comparison. I was floating in the dark void, staring straight at the center of the doors, where the handles would normally be located.

Though I chose not to open the doors, I sighed in relief. The fact that they were still within my consciousness meant that the connection between me and the Spirit King still existed. And from the power that leaked out from those doors, I could sense that the contract still had power.

I stood up and then immediately bumped into someone. This was a surprisingly embarrassing accident on my part considering that as a Fuujutsushi, I should always be aware of my surroundings. In my own defense, I normally don't go to those doors and then pull back without opening them. The amount of concentration that it took to even get that far made me forget about my surroundings.

"Watch where you're going, commoner," the student I bumped into said. He was a lanky, blond boy who was about six inches shorter than me. Linked to his arm at his side was a brown haired girl with a fair complexion. "Be grateful that I'm with my lady friend. If I was not, I would surely have you punished for your clumsiness."

Before I could say anything, the girl beside the boy spoke up.

"Guiche?" The girl unlinked her arm to his and bent down to pick up something. "Why did you drop this?"

In her hand was a small vial of a lavender colored liquid. For some strange reason, a look of total horror was spreading over Guiche's face. I had no idea what his problem was, but I could tell that it was about to get really, really good.

"Guiche!" the girl suddenly shrieked. "That's Montmorency's perfume! Why do you have Montmorency's perfume!"

Oh! Proof of his infidelity? Nice. How would the boy respond?

"K-Katie, my love," Guiche stammered. "I can explain. Truly, I can. That was something I found on the ground and picked up to return to my classmate! My love for you burns too brightly for there to be any other intention!"

I rolled my eyes at the display. It was a cheesy and cliché response, but admittedly hard to immediately disprove. Thus, the girl seemed to believe every word.

"Oh, Guiche!" Katie cried out. "Forgive me for ever doubting you!"

"Guiche!"

We all turned to face another girl stomping towards them. A blonde girl with ringlets in her hair.

"Montmorency!" Guiche said, his face aghast. "My beloved, I can explain!"

Excellent. The plot thickens with the other girl showing up.

"Explain what?" Montmorency cried angrily. "I heard every word! _Every _word! I _gave_ you that perfume as a present! How could you do this to me!?"

With that, the ringlet girl slapped Guiche across the face, leaving a bright red handprint on his cheek, before turning to walk away in a huff.

"Montmorency, wait!" Guiche cried out desperately.

"Oh, Guiche, how could you lie to me?" Katie sobbed.

Then she too slapped Guiche, leaving another identical handprint on his other cheek, before running away, crying into her sleeves.

During the display, a crowd of nobles had gathered to watch. And now they were all laughing merrily at Guiche's misfortune. I joined them in their laughter. This event proved the old adage was true in all the worlds: he who chases after two hares catches neither. As I turned to leave, Guiche called out to me.

"Halt, commoner," he said.

I turned around and looked at him.

"How do you plan on apologizing for damaging the reputations of those two lovely girls and making them cry?" he demanded.

"Since you were the one who cheated on them, shouldn't you be the one apologizing?" I said bluntly. "It's entirely your fault."

"Exactly, Guiche!" someone from the laughing crowd called out. "It's your fault!"

Guiche glared at me for a moment, until recognition dawned on his face. "Ah. You're Louise's familiar. The commoner. It appears that you need to be taught the proper etiquette when speaking to nobles. A duel shall be sufficient to teach you a lesson."

"Okay," I answered promptly. "I accept."

A surprised and excited round of gasps came from the crowd around us.

"Come to the Vestri Courtyard in twenty minutes," Guiche said as he turned dramatically, allowing his cloak to billow behind him, and walked away.

From there, the crowd did either one of three things. The first was to follow Guiche. The second was to leave to spread the news. And the third was to remain here for reasons I assume to be to keep me from running away from the duel.

Amongst this third group, I noticed a familiar face, though with an expression that was until now unfamiliar to me on her face. It was one of fear.

"Hi, Siesta," I said.

"Kazuma, what are you doing?" Siesta said in a hoarse whisper, her face bloodless and white with panic. "You're going to get killed!"

"Don't worry about it," I said with a relaxed smile. "I'll win."

What were supposed to be reassuring words only served to blanch the already pale face and set her even more on edge.

"Please don't go," Siesta begged urgently. "I'm going to find Miss Valliere. Maybe she can do something about this."

"Ah, wait, Siesta... Dammit," I sighed as Siesta bolted off back to the castle. I looked around at the third group of nobles and said, "Alright. Where's this Vestri Courtyard?"

**-SCENE BREAK-**

When I arrived at the Vestri Courtyard to an awaiting Guiche and an audience, it was at nearly the exact same time as Louise and Siesta. Considering the fact that they were both panting heavily, they had clearly sprinted all the way here once Siesta had found the pink-haired noble.

"Guiche!" Louise shouted as she stomped over to the blond noble. "What are you doing? You know that duels are against the rules here!"

"Duels between nobles are against the rules," Guiche corrected. "There is nothing in the rules that bars a duel between nobles and commoners or familiars."

"That's only because nobody thought anyone would actually do that!" Louise said incredulously.

Guiche shrugged. "Mere technicalities. The point stands. There is nothing illegal about this duel."

"But... But... You just can't do that!" Louise cried out, lost for words.

"Very well," Guiche sighed. "Because he is your familiar, I'll give him a chance. If he kneels and apologizes to me, then I'll let him go without harm."

Louise whirled around in my direction and hissed, "Do it."

"Why?" I said, confused. "I have done nothing that necessitates my apology."

"He's a noble, your a commoner," Louise said. "If you don't want to get hurt, you must apologize."

I favored her with an icy expression. "No."

"As your master, I am ordering you to apologize!" Louise said indignantly.

"I thought we made the 'master-slave' thing abundantly clear by now," I said.

"Master-familiar," Louise corrected automatically. "You're going to be injured very badly. You might even die."

"Kazuma, please," Siesta begged from the crowd. "Pride isn't worth injuring yourself over."

"True," I agreed. "But pride has nothing to do with this."

It had to do with my oath. The promise that I had made to myself when I became strong that I would never yield to the Kannagi family or to anyone else ever again.

"Fine!" Louise said loudly. "I give up! Do whatever you want!"

With that, Louise rejoined the sizable audience, which numbered at around 70 or 80 people. I took 15 paces away from Guiche and faced him.

"I'll commend you for not running away, commoner!" Guiche began theatrically. It seemed for him that this wasn't a duel. It was a show. He waved an artificial rose he held in his hand, an aesthetically modified wand from the looks of it, causing a single petal to fall to the ground. From where the petal touched the ground, a bronze golem grew from the ground. The golem was female in shape and was equipped with a sword, shield, and a stylized armor with decorative wings on its helmet. "My name is Guiche the Bronze. As such, this bronze Valkyrie shall be your opponent!"

I stuck my hands in my pants pockets and gave an unimpressed shrug. Guiche narrowed his eyes and the Valkyrie charged forward. Despite the fact that it was made of solid metal, the golem moved surprisingly fast, running only slightly slower than that of an average man.

I could sense that the audience was watching with bated breath as the golem closed the distance. Yet, I still did not move even as the golem thrust its sword for my guts. There was an audible and excited round of gasps from the audience as they prepared to watch my gory death.

Instead, however, the sword was met by a wind kekkai, a spherical barrier of swirling wind about five feet in radius that repelled the golem's attack.

"What is that?" Guiche said in surprise at my barrier of wind.

Instead of answering, I called upon the wind to sweep up the golem high into the air, and then launched a thin and lethally sharp blade of highly condensed and fast moving wind – an air blade – at the golem, bisecting it cleanly and letting the halves fall to the ground with a thud.

"Huh?" was all Guiche could say, a dumb look gracing his face. Perhaps because he simply could not understand what just happened or how a mere 'commoner' was responsible for it, he reacted by summoning seven more of his bronze golems and sent them forth in a mindless charge.

Unlike their first, fallen comrade, these ones did not get to move a single step before I cut them into numerous tiny pieces with a flurry of air blades, which left many visible scars in the ground that traced the path they took in flying to their targets.

I began walking towards Guiche calmly and deliberately. With a growing sense of fear in his eyes, Guiche summoned more of his Valkyries and sent them attacking. But they were simply too weak to face me and were instantly cut into pieces by my wind.

Despite my slow advance, Guiche refused to take even a single step backwards. Was it because of his pride? Or perhaps because he was too scared to move? It might have been both. In any case, I soon found myself face to face with the blond boy. He raised his wand at me, but I easily slapped his hand with the back of my own hand, sending his wand flying off into the air, where I picked it up with the wind spirits and kept it floating out of his reach.

By now, fear was plain to see on his face and the excited talk amongst the audience had stopped entirely. They were instead watching with confusion at how a mere commoner could use magic, and, more importantly, how he could defeat a noble.

"Well, this is a duel," I said nonchalantly, "so I ought to finish it I suppose."

Without an ounce of mercy, I launched my knee straight into the boy's stomach, causing him to bend over, head bowed, and clutching his stomach in pain. I quickly followed up with a second knee to the boy's lowered face, striking him squarely in the nose. I could feel the satisfying crunch of his nose breaking and shifting beneath my knee. A bludgeoning hammerblow of wind sent the boy flying off to the side and crashing into the ground not too gently.

I walked over to him and put a foot on top of his face, pressing his face into the grass hard. For the first time since the start of the duel, I took my hands out of my pockets and searched my jacket until I produced an unopened carton of cigarettes and a lighter. I opened the wrapping and took out a cigarette and lit it quietly. I inhaled deeply and then exhaled, letting out a small cloud of smoke.

"You have two options," I said finally. Despite how quietly I said it, the entire courtyard had gone completely silent except for Guiche's piteous moans of pain, allowing my words to be heard by everyone. "You can either give up for a cost or you can die for free."

"I... I yield," Guiche moaned, his voice sounding oddly nasally from his broken nose and my foot on his face.

I rubbed my foot against Guiche's face, pressing him painfully into the ground. "And how much are you going to pay me?"

"I'll pay! I'll pay!" Guiche groaned as he weakly tried to push me off of him. "100 gold coins!"

I frowned as I realized something. I had no idea how much that amount actually was in this world's economy. I needed some advice. I looked around the crowd, ignoring the looks on everybody's faces until I found the one I was looking for.

"Siesta," I called out. "How much is 100 gold coins here?"

Siesta blinked for a moment, then looked shocked at being addressed as every eye turned towards her.

"Um... Well," she stammered, "it's about two or three years worth of my salary. It's a lot for commoners."

"Hmm..." I frowned as I considered that piece of information for a moment. Well, I suppose that's good enough for now. I nodded and took my foot off of Guiche and let his wand float down and land in front of his face. "You have three days to bring me the money."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"What was that?" Louise demanded the instant we returned to her room and shut the door.

"What was what?" I asked, feigning ignorance.

"The duel! The magic! The extortion!" Louise said incredulously. "How could you extort a noble!?"

"That wasn't an extortion," I protested defensively. "That was a business transaction."

"You threatened to kill Guiche if he didn't pay you money," Louise said flatly.

"The commodity was his life," I replied reasonably. "I was the seller and he was the buyer. Really, I should have charged more. His life for only 100 gold coins? That was a bargain for him."

Louise palmed her face and sighed. "You know what? Forget that for a moment. How in the name of Brimir did you use Ancient Magic? Are you," Louise swallowed fearfully, "an elf?"

"Ancient Magic?" I frowned at the unfamiliar term. "No, what I used is something people in my world call Fuujutsu, or Wind Techniques. And I'm not an elf."

"Truly?" Louise asked warily.

"Yes." I rolled my eyes and bent my ears outward slightly to show their distinct lack of a point. Hopefully the elves of this world were similar to their portrayals on Earth. "See?"

"Hm... Your ears do look human," Louise murmured. Then she narrowed her eyes. "But I've heard stories that elves can transform to look like humans so that they can steal their babies and eat them!"

"Believe what you want," I sighed. "All I can say is that I am not an elf and, at least as far as I know, I don't use Ancient Magic."

"Hm... Well, alright then. I'll believe you for now," Louise said. "But you must not take Guiche's money."

"Why not?" I asked with genuine surprise.

"Because it's dishonorable," Louise said exasperatedly. "And it's improper for a commoner to demand money from a noble, even if it's from someone like Guiche."

"I understand," I said.

"Good," Louise sighed in relief. "Then let's go apologize to Guiche and tell him that he doesn't owe you anything."

"No," I said. "I only said that I understand. I get where you're arguing from, but I disagree. I still have every intention of collecting my money."

Louise opened her mouth to argue, but then paused and closed it. She ran a hand through her long, pink hair frustratedly. "You might be able to get away with being able to use elf magic, or at least something that looks like it, but if you extort-"

"Business transaction," I interrupted.

"... Extort Guiche," Louise continued, "then people might call the authorities and you'll be imprisoned or executed for your crimes."

"Aw, you're worried about me. I'm touched," I said with fake sugary sweetness.

"No matter what you or anyone else says," Louise narrowed her eyes at me, "I am still your master and you are my familiar. I have an honor bound duty and obligation to try and protect you."

"Then I'll be looking forward to your protection," I said politely. "But I'm still collecting that money. Since I'm cut off from my funds in my homeplanet, I need to start gathering money here."

"And you would risk turning all the nobles of Tristain against you for such a pitiful amount of money?" Louise said incredulously. "Didn't you hear what I said earlier? You could be imprisoned or executed for doing this! If it comes to that, even I can't help you."

"From what I hear," I said, "nobles do the exact same thing to commoners all the time. I see no reason why I can't reverse the role."

"Nobles do not behave in such base manners," Louise snapped. "We value honor and duty above all else."

Not according to Siesta, and I feel more inclined to believe the kind maid who fed me over the mean noble who tried to whip me.

"Say whatever you want," I said as I turned and walked towards the door, "but I have no intention of backing out now."

"Guiche was only a dot mage," Louise said warningly. "If you keep this up, much stronger mages will be sent after you and you will surely die."

I stopped halfway out of Louise's room's door and turned to look at her. "I don't care. I do not bow to anyone."

And with that, I shut the door quietly behind me.


	3. Chapter 3 - Backlash

_Author's note:_

_Alright, there were a couple of questions I wanted to answer and clarify from the reviews before I go any further._

_The first was will Kazuma create a contract with the other Spirit Kings? The answer to that is a plain no. The reason why is because Kazuma, from the very start of Kaze no Stigma, is the strongest character in the series. _

_In fact, as far as I know off the top of my head, there is only one person he's truly afraid of and has admitted to have no desire to fight, and that person is an immortal Taoist that is introduced and present only in the side stories of the light novels. Being already as overpowered as he is, it is hard enough creating any external conflict for him. Giving him contracts with the other Spirit Kings would just make him far too godly for my tastes. _

_The second question was if the Kazuma in this crossover is the Kazuma before or after the anime started. In the Stigma of the Void_, _Kazuma is as he was before meeting Ayano, Ren, and everyone else in Japan (except for Kirika, who he met in Europe). He was en route to going back to Japan where the storyline of Kaze no Stigma would have happened, but was instead summoned to Halkeginia._

_Thus, he is as he was before he mellowed out and became somewhat kinder after meeting Ayano. He's still greedy and selfish, is more than willing to extort, blackmail, cheat, kill, etc., and though he still has a strong moral code he follows, it is his moral code and no one else's. He doesn't care for the Halkeginian notion of honor or duty or whatnot. In fact, he would scorn them if someone tried to teach him about it. _

_Hopefully that answers those questions. _

_-__**STORY START-**_

I woke up to a stiff neck and winced in pain. I slowly stood up and began rolling my shoulders and neck, stretching out my body carefully and thoroughly. After three days of sleeping on benches and other hard, uncomfortable surfaces, it was little wonder that my body was feeling so weary. But despite that, I was feeling cheerful as I recalled that today was the third day since the duel. Or in other words, it was payday.

"Ah, you're awake, Kazuma," Siesta said from behind me.

I turned around and smiled. "Morning," I greeted.

"Good morning," Siesta smiled in return. "Did you want breakfast?"

"That would be great," I said. Then I added with a mocking voice, "Unfortunately, the Lady Valliere has ordered that I not be allowed food, and has yet to revoke such an order. Such a shame it is, that I am forced to waste away at her cruel whims."

"Truly, such cruelty could only come from those who think they above us," Siesta joined in on the impromptu skit. This was something that had become a sort of routine between the two of us. Neither of us liked the nobility much, if at all, and it had served as a common ground for us to quickly bond as friends. "Alas, then there is nothing more I can do for you. So please, do not follow me to the kitchen, where the entry is open and completely unguarded, and where a hot meal and a bottle of vintage Albionion wine is waiting there all alone."

"Albionion wine?" I perked up instantly and dropped the playfulness. Albionion wine has quickly earned a special place in my heart with its excellent and rich flavor, comparable to that of the best and most expensive wine anywhere on Earth. "Well, screw what Louise says then. Lead on, Siesta."

Siesta giggled and led me to the kitchen. Usually, the kitchen was nearly empty around this time. Siesta was one of the few whose duty was to come here early and get everything cleaned and prepared. Being a fast, efficient, and hardworking worker, she always had time to make breakfast for me. At first, she had done it out of pity for a poor, lost commoner who had been summoned unwillingly by a noble. Now, it was out of appreciation for what I did to Guiche.

In fact, the news of the duel had spread fast within the entire Academy. By the end of the first day, there wasn't a single student, teacher, or servant that did not know about it. At first I thought that the teachers would come after me, but when none did, I remembered what Guiche had said before.

"_Duels between nobles are against the rules. There is nothing in the rules that bars a duel between nobles and commoners or familiars."_

Heh. His own words backfired on him.

Amongst the students, I had become something of a polarizing figure. There were many who hated me for what they considered a "commoner's rebellion," while others thought it was highly amusing and even impressive to a degree. To all, however, the news that I could somehow use 'Ancient Magic' was largely disbelieved. The majority of the students continued to believe that I was but a mere commoner, incapable of using magic, and defeated Guiche by sheer dumb luck.

The teachers were more ambiguous. Except for the rare exceptions, the teachers continued to behave like before: treating me as just another familiar. Colbert acted as if he hadn't even heard about the duel in the slightest. At one point, he had cornered me after class, whereupon I thought he would begin asking me about the duel. Instead, he had begun interrogating me about my country's technology.

The servants, contrary to the other two demographics, were all highly impressed. In large part due to Siesta's own efforts, my victory over Guiche had spread faster than with either of the other demographic. It took only half a day for every servant to learn about the "commoner who can use magic." The fact that I could use magic and that I extor-... I mean, had a business transaction with Guiche despite the fact that I was a commoner like them caused the opinions of every servant about me to skyrocket positively.

It was because of that that the kitchen was no longer empty in the early mornings. Now, many chefs and maids were purposefully coming early to get a chance to meet me. Though the fame was flattering, it made it difficult to eat since I was bombarded with questions or asked to retell the story of the duel almost every two seconds. I answered their questions the best I could, of course, because it was always a smart idea to be good to the help. You never know when their help comes in handy, such as when they get a shipment of Albionion wine and give you the first bottle...

"So, Kazuma," Siesta said, "have you heard anything yet from Mister Gramont?"

"Not yet," I said as I ate my breakfast. "I'm giving him until the end of today."

"You don't think he'll try and snake out of the agreement, do you?" a random chef asked suspiciously. "Nobles never keep their end of the bargains with commoners."

"He can try," I shrugged. "It just means he doesn't value his life very much."

"Speaking of which," a large man with a booming voice, the head chef of the kitchen, Marteau, said, "have you heard anything from the authorities? As much as we appreciate what you did, to the nobles you've done a grave crime. Two, actually. Hurting him and demanding money."

"I haven't, actually," I frowned. This was something I had been wondering as well. After what Louise had said, I had been very sure that there would be someone that would come after me for my 'crimes,' but none had. "Maybe the news just hasn't spread as fast to the authorities as it has in the Academy?"

"Maybe," Marteau nodded. "Anyway, eat up, Kazuma! Everyone, let's get back to work!"

"Thanks, I will," I said as I attacked the meal before me with renewed vigor.

As I ate, however, I sensed something watching me from behind. I turned and looked at a small window across the kitchen to see the source of my suspicion: the staring face of a giant red lizard. Upon noticing that I noticed it, it quickly scampered away.

Well. That was strange.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

The rest of the day went by without much drama, until it was finally time for Louise's last class of the day, which took place just before dinner and out here in the courtyards, under the cool evening sun. The teacher, Professor Levent, was tall and thin like a reed, but was nevertheless as loud and blustering as a man four times his size. I soon realized why he had elected to hold class outside. He was lecturing on wind magic and demonstrating it indoors would have been very messy.

"Wind magic," Levent said authoritatively, "is by far and away the most versatile element in combat, and by virtue of its versatility, the most powerful. A sufficiently strong enough wind mage can decimate soldiers, block or hamper projectiles, turn the mage and his comrades invisible, and much, much more. As such, it is not fire mages, who are only capable of destroying, that are the most valued by the military, but wind mages. Proof of that is that the most legendary mage in the history of Tristain, barring Brimir, is Karin the Heavy Wind, a square class wind mage."

From where I stood at the rear of the rear of the class, I could see that Kirche looked insulted. Judging by her reaction, I assumed that she was one of those fire mages the teacher had just insulted.

"In light of that, everyone is to step forward one at a time and demonstrate their best attempt at wind magic," Levent said. "We'll start with you, Miss Tabitha."

The blue-haired girl stepped forward in front of the class and waved her staff, which was taller than herself, almost lazily. A small tornado, one twice my height, formed in front of her and spun in place for several seconds, before another wave of her staff canceled it.

"Very good, Miss Tabitha," Levent nodded as Tabitha took her seat and pulled out a book from beneath her cloak. "Now, how about Miss Valliere?"

Levent suddenly sucked in a breath as he realized what he had just said. The class had begun looking around frantically for a place to hide. But since they were in an open courtyard, there wasn't anything to use as cover. I myself had begun forming a wind barrier when a very amusing idea suddenly came into mind. As well as a possibility of earning more money.

I took a quick glance around at the class. Except for Louise and Kirche, none of them had been present at the duel, which meant they were among those who did not believe in my ability to use magic. Excellent.

I watched Louise like a hawk as she made gestures with her wand and chanted a spell. The instant she began to finish it, I quickly called forth the wind spirits to contain and suppress the following explosion invisibly with a wind kekkai. Simultaneously, I created a tornado three times the size of Tabitha's.

"Great Brimir!" Levent shouted in shock as a tornado raged in place harmlessly for ten seconds before dissipating. "Well. That was a surprise. Nevertheless, congratulations, Miss Valliere, on a job very well done."

"T-thank you...?" Louise said, clearly confused by what just happened. As she went to rejoin the class, however, a look of comprehension spread across her face. She glanced at me very briefly before quickly looking away.

The rest of the class went by without event. Aside from Tabitha, none of these people could use wind magic very well. The best attempt excluding the one by Tabitha was from a fat boy named Malicorne. He had managed to cast a flimsy, weak air blade, one that would leave a paper cut at best. It was cringe worthy to watch.

When class was dismissed, Louise lagged behind the others until we were the only ones left on the courtyard.

"Why did you do that?" Louise demanded immediately.

"That was a marvelous tornado," I said, pretending not to have heard her. "Truly, you did the best out of everyone else in the class."

"Don't play games with me," Louise snapped. Then her expression softened, changing into one of honest curiosity. "Why did you help me?"

"I have my own reasons," I said with a shrug. "But the most important reason? Because it was funny. Just think. From now on, they're going to think you can actually cast magic! And then, when they ask you to do it again in front of class, you won't be able to. Wouldn't that be embarrassing?" I grinned wickedly at this point. "Unless..."

Louise's eyes narrowed as she glared at me. "Unless I pay you to maintain the act," she spat. "How do you even live with yourself, commoner? Is your life so consumed by greed that you would do even this? Do you know nothing of honor? Of honesty?"

"I know plenty," I said. "I just think they're stupid. So? Will you pay or not?"

"I refuse," Louise said immediately. "I would rather fail honestly and with some dignity than succeed by selling out my honor with lies and deceit."

I sighed, defeated. Damn. There goes my scheme for some easy money. "I see. Well, that's too bad then." I glanced up at the setting sun. "Oh well. Shall we go to dinner then?"

**-SCENE BREAK-**

Louise had not lifted her ban on me eating food and drinks in the kitchen ever since she implemented it on my second day here in Halkeginia. However, she quietly understood that such a ban was meaningless as I was still getting food from the servants, despite her orders to them to not give me anything. As such, she had all but given up on trying to force a punishment on me. In return, I decided to at least not eat in her presence. It was a tacit agreement we had come to.

Thus, instead of eating, I spent my time searching for Guiche. Fuujutsu was known on Earth as the best jutsu for reconnaissance and gathering information thanks to the fact that of the four elements, air, and by extension, the wind spirits, occupied the largest amount of space. By having the wind spirits feed me back what they knew, I quickly found Guiche eating near the very end of the long dining hall with the same blonde ringlet girl from before. What was her name again? Ah, right. Montmorency. That was it.

"I'll be right back," I said to Louise as I stood up and began walking across the dining hall towards Guiche.

When the blond boy saw me coming, he seemed to jump in his seat for a moment, but quickly settled down. He was looking much better than he did immediately after the duel. I could see no traces of injuries at all. He had likely been healed by some magical or alchemical means.

"Hello there," I said cheerfully as I sat myself across from him. "Do you have the money?"

Montmorency glared at me angrily. "Go away, commoner. You have no right to neither sit here nor to address my Guiche like that."

I purposefully ignored the girl and kept my attention on Guiche, who seemed to be strangely fascinated with the food in front of him. "Well? You owe me 100 gold coins. Do you or do you not have it?"

"Who do you think you are demanding money from my Guiche?" Montmorency demanded angrily.

"The man that beat him and then spared his life for 100 gold coins," I said, turning my attention to the ringlet girl for the first time. "100 gold coins that I have yet to receive." I looked back at Guiche. "You still have until the end of today to pay me back. I just want to know, do you have it ready now or will you be paying me later tonight?"

"Guiche, don't listen to this commoner," Montmorency said sternly. "He ought to be jailed for his rudeness. In fact, everything he said is grounds enough for us to notify the authorities."

"You can take that path if you want," I said. "Just know that if you do, all other options will be closed to you." I stared at Guiche hard. _"__All_ other options."

Guiche shivered, and then he quietly reached into his cloak and withdrew a small, cloth bag that made jingling sounds when he moved it. The sweet sound of money. He placed it on the table exactly halfway between us.

"Guiche!" Montmorency said with a look of shock and outrage on her face.

"Don't be too upset with him," I said nonchalantly as I picked the bag of coins up and bounced it in my hand momentarily before nodding satisfactorily. "If he had called the authorities, I'd have just killed them and then him afterward for backing out of the deal and double crossing me." I nodded at Guiche. "A pleasure doing business with you."

I put the bag of coins into my pocket and left the the two alone and returned to Louise. She was watching me with a frosty gaze.

"So. Did you get your dishonorably gained dirty money?" Louise asked coldly.

"I sure did," I said cheerfully as I sat down beside her. "I'll have to go shopping some time. Maybe I could buy a mattress and put it somewhere here. Sleeping on the benches is killing my back."

"You are the most despicable person I have ever met," Louise said quietly. "And you should be ashamed of how your getting your money."

I stared at Louise for a moment, and then sighed as I stood up and created a wind kekkai that completely cut us off from the rest of the dining hall. We could not see or hear them, and neither could they see or hear us. When I turned to look again at Louise, all joviality had disappeared from my face.

"Then you are a blind little girl, too young and naïve to see the world around her," I said. "You think I'm the only one who does things like this? I have heard from at least thirty different servants here of stories of the cruelty that nobles have inflicted on their friends and relatives. They've told me about how dirty old geezers steal land and belongings from commoners, forcing them into abject poverty, and how they kidnap pretty little village girls as their personal pets and then do whatever disgusting thing they want to them.

"And even if that's not true, I know for a fact that when you kidnapped me from my world, the first thing you showed was not remorse, but rather anger and disappointment at having summoned a 'useless familiar.' Have you ever thought for a moment that maybe, just maybe, I might have friends and family and a lover that you ripped me away from? Have you thought even for a single second how they might be worried about me, searching for me desperately? Or that I miss them as well? No. All you were selfishly thinking about was yourself.

"I also know how your first reaction to my refusal to submit to you, my kidnapper, was to whip me as punishment. Why the hell do you even have a whip in your room? And then, when I refused to change your clothes, you tried to starve me. Have you ever even thought about the impropriety of having a man dress a girl like that? Oh wait. No. You didn't. And I know why. You don't even consider me as a human being.

"And you want to talk about Guiche? Then how about we look at how his very first attack was a lethal move meant to disembowel me? Oh wait. That's okay because he's a noble and I'm a commoner, a being that's less than human in your eyes. And because commoners are less than human, a commoner beating a noble is just so wrong. Yes, I extorted money from him. So what? Better that he be 100 gold coins poorer than to be dead. At the same time, you, who speaks so much about honor, are not the least bit upset at the fact that Guiche demanded I surrender by selling my dignity and self-respect? Everything you speak reeks of hypocrisy. You want to talk about duty? About honor? About honesty?

"Let me tell you this then. The duty of a noble, a leader, is to guide and protect those underneath him. It is not their right to oppress them. Honor dictates that they strive to be fair and just to all people, not just to those like them. And honesty mandates that you open your eyes to the goddamn truth and to accept it for what it is. To try and push your ignorant, idealized version of what nobles are onto others and force them to believe that it is true is the height of dishonesty.

"So tell me that I am the most despicable person you have ever met. Ask me how I can live with myself. Tell me that I'm selfish, dishonorable, a liar, disgusting, or whatever else you want. But do it after you've opened your own damn eyes and see that your kind does the same fucking thing, you stupid little girl."

Louise's mouth was closed and set rigidly. Her face was a curious mixture of anger, disbelief, shock, and confusion. In other words, she was speechless. I removed the wind barrier and once more the sounds of the dining hall came back into our ears. It seemed that in the great size of the population in the dining hall, no one had noticed the sudden disappearance and reappearance of two people, except for those nearest to us, who yelped in surprise, but asked no questions.

Almost immediately upon removing the wind kekkai, I heard a voice from behind us. "There you are, darling!"

I turned around to see Kirche coming over to us. "I've been looking everywhere for you, darling," Kirche said as she sidled up to me and grabbed my arm and pressed it against her very large breasts.

"Darling? Me?" I arched an eyebrow, though I didn't reject her advances.

"Yes you," Kirche said with a merry little laugh. "You know, I was there for your duel with Guiche, and I realized something then."

"What's that?" I asked curiously.

"That I have fallen madly in love with you!" Kirche declared proudly. She glanced at Louise. "Hey, what's wrong with Valliere?"

"It's nothing," I said. "We just finished talking is all and I was just about to leave."

"Why don't you come with me then?" Kirche asked coyly as she linked arms with me.

"Sure. Let's go," I said. The two of us left Louise, and though I did not look back even once, I could tell she was staring after us with a blank expression.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"So that's what happened to Louise?" Kirche asked as she began to take off her school uniform revealing her in all her natural beauty.

Unfortunately, I could only spare half of my attention towards Kirche. I was too busy lying down on her bed. Oh soft, wonderful mattresses. I have missed you so much. Soon, I would definitely get my own.

"Pretty much," I said as I sighed inwardly contentedly. "She lives in a dream world where nobles can do no wrong." I paused for a moment. "Ah, but you're a noble too. I'd apologize, but I did mean every word I said, so I won't."

"Your lack of apology is accepted," Kirche said playfully as she came to the bed and straddled on top of me. "But enough of that."

"Agreed," I said as I brought my own hands up and traced them along Kirche's naked waistline. "Enough of that."

As Kirche leaned in for a kiss that promised to kickoff a very pleasant night, however, the door to the room suddenly slammed open. Standing there was a very angry Louise.

"KIRCHE!" Louise howled. "GET YOUR DIRTY HANDS OFF OF MY FAMILIAR! AND PUT SOME DAMN CLOTHES ON, BOTH OF YOU!"

Dammit. I should have set up a kekkai around the door.

"Louise," Kirche said as she rested her head against my chest and looked at Louise. "There is such a thing as knocking. And darling has told me that he doesn't consider himself as anyone's familiar."

"Slave," I corrected. "The two concepts are practically the same."

"See?" Kirche said.

"Like I care," Louise snarled. "Familiar, I don't care who you decide to have... to do _that_ with so long as it's not _her."_ Louise pointed an accusatory finger at Kirche.

"Hm? To do what with Kirche?" I said.

"Yeah, Louise," Kirche said, instantly picking up on what I was doing. "What can't darling do with me?"

"He can't do... _that,"_ Louise said as she wrung her hands together.

"Seriously, Louise," I said. "How can we know what you're talking about unless you actually say it?"

"Just shut up!" Louise shouted. "Just shut up and put on some clothes! We're leaving!"

At this Kirche sat up from her prone position on top of me. "I got it. How about this, Valliere? Let's have a little contest. If I win, then you'll leave us alone from now on. If you win, then I'll keep my hands off of darling."

"What kind of contest?" Louise asked suspiciously.

"Oh, just a simple test of magic," Kirche said nonchalantly. "That's not a problem is it, Louise the Zero?"

"Of course not!" Louise said, her anger flaring to new heights at that last jab. "I accept!"

**-SCENE BREAK-**

The twin moons of Halkeginia was floating high in the sky, casting down its silver glow upon the courtyards. This was where Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, and I were gathered. I found myself regretting not putting up a kekkai at Kirche's door twice as much now as I did before, because what we were about to do was incredibly stupid and tiresome.

"Alright," Kirche said. "The rules are simple. The first to land a spell on darling wins the contest. In turn, darling is not allowed to use his magic to avoid our spells and he must do his best to avoid every spell he can. Tabitha will be both witness and judge. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Louise nodded.

I sighed as I stood about 15 paces away from Kirche and Louise, who were standing side by side. This was really, really stupid and I really should have used that damn kekkai.

"Begin," Tabitha said softly.

Almost immediately, Kirche launched a flurry of five fireballs at me, each were the size of my head and expertly aimed to attack where she predicted I would dodge to. Impressive. I honestly had not been expecting Kirche to demonstrate such control and precision, and judging by the restraint she used when casting the fireballs, she was a lot more powerful then she let on. If I had to guess, she was easily more powerful than any of the branch family of the Kannagi, and probably comparable to several of the main family members.

With controlled, fluid motions, I danced and weaved my way through the flurry of fireballs, avoiding each one of them with not even a single scorch mark on my clothes. Louise then released her own spell. Unlike Kirche, Louise's spell came out as an explosion that left my ears ringing. However, I did not even need to try and dodge it because the explosion was cast about four feet to my left.

So. Louise has a terrible aim. That... was actually very bad for me. With controlled, precise spells like Kirche's, I could predict and avoid them with my greater experience and practice. With uncontrolled and inaccurate explosions like what Louise was doing now, I had little way of being able to actually tell where it was going to happen, more so since her explosions did not have a visible travel time. Instead, the space she aimed at simply exploded.

"Can we stop this?" I asked as I dodged another round of fireballs and another explosion occurred five feet to my right. "This is pointless."

"Never!" both girls cried out in unison.

Fine. In that case, I had to think of a way to deliberately lose without being caught by Tabitha, who was watching me like a hawk. Preferably I'd like to lose to Kirche, but it would be difficult to make it look like it wasn't on purpose.

_Crash!_

"What was that?" I whirled around searching for the source of the noise. Likewise, Kirche and Louise had ceased their spells and all three were looking at the source.

"There!" Louise pointed towards the castle, where an enormous silhouette had just punched through one of the tower walls and a cloaked figure could be seen escaping the broken tower along the arm. "It's a golem!"

Holy shit! That's a golem? It was enormous! It had to be at least 30 feet tall. Are you telling me that Elemental Magic created that monstrosity? That was both terrifying _and_ incredible.

"It must be Foquet!" Louise said as she ran towards the golem. "We have to stop him!

"Louise, wait!" Kirche called out. It was too late, however. So instead, she and Tabitha followed after their classmate.

I scratched the back of my head as I considered what to do. On one hand, this seemed like it was going to be a hugely annoying thing to deal with. On the other hand, Louise had clearly said that this was some person named Foquet. Judging by how she said it, that must mean that Foquet was someone infamous, which meant...

I grinned. Which meant a bounty reward!

I quickly chased after the three and caught up to them in time to see them hurling fireballs, ice spears, and explosions at the enormous golem. However, they were like three ants challenging an enormous elephant, and were causing about that much damage.

The golem turned and began lumbering its way towards the forest beyond the Academy's walls. Oh no you don't, my bounty! I flew up into the air and chased after the golem, which wasn't difficult because of how slow the construct was. When I was flying directly overhead the cloaked figure, I sent an air blade down at the person.

However, a sudden rounded dome of stone encapsulated Foquet, and though the air blade left a shallow scar on the dome, it did no real damage.

The element of earth was the polar opposite of the element of air. As such, earth magic tended to be highly effective in defending against air. But that was against normal wind mages. Not me.

I created another air blade, this one stronger and faster than the one before, and sent it flying for the dome shield. This time, the air blade cut right through it like butter. Immediately afterward, the golem began disintegrating into base earth, crumbling down into a giant pile of dirt.

"You did it, darling!" Kirche said proudly as I landed on the ground.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Let's make sure Foquet is still in there somewhere."

With a wave of my hand, I blew away the dirt. To my surprise, however, there was no body there. Instead, there was only a small, thick stone plaque. On it was some kind of writing.

"What does that say?" I asked quietly.

Louise replied. "It says, 'The Staff of Destruction has been duly received. - Foquet of the Crumbling Dirt.'"


	4. Chapter 4 - Foquet of the Crumbling Dirt

"So, after Foquet broke into the treasury vault, you three attempted to stop him, but failed and allowed him to escape?" Osmond, said sternly.

Osmond was an old man, older by far than Colbert who stood beside him. He probably could have passed as a grandfather's grandfather and no one would doubt him for it. I couldn't help but think upon seeing his long, wispy white beard that this man looked remarkably like Gandalf or Dumbledore. Coincidentally, he had a similar role to the latter: Headmaster of the Academy.

"Yes, Headmaster," Louise said. Somehow, she had been elected as the unofficial spokesperson for the group that consisted of her, Tabitha, and Kirche. I, being a familiar, wasn't counted.

"You fools!" Osmond bellowed and shot to his feet with such rage and vitriol that it took even me by surprise. "Do you understand what you did!?"

"I do, sir," Louise said stiffly. "We failed in our duty as nobles to stop the worst thief in the history of Halkeginia."

"Clearly you do _not_ understand!" Osmond raged. "It does not matter that you failed to stop Foquet. What upsets me is that you thought to challenge a mage-thief who is undoubtedly stronger than all of you put together! Do you understand how much you risked your life by trying to stop him yourself!? You could have _died!"_

Osmond sighed as he sat back down. "Students, I beg of you not to pick fights you cannot win. And if you must, at the very least not without a good plan."

"Yes, Headmaster," Louise and the others said solemnly in unison.

"Now then," Osmond furrowed his brow. "Let us address the most pressing issue. Jean," Osmond looked aside at Colbert, "what did Foquet take from the treasury vault?"

"... The Staff of Destruction," Colbert said quietly.

"That is grave news," Osmond said solemnly.

"Headmaster," Louise said. "We ought to report this to the Palace as soon as possible and have them send mageknights to find Foquet."

Osmond shook his head. "It would take far too long for them to receive our message and arrive with a capture team. Foquet would have disappeared long before that."

"Then send us!" Louise declared.

"I agree!" Kirche said.

"Me," Tabitha said very quietly. Kirche beamed at her small friend and hugged her fiercely.

"... Miss Valliere, Miss Zerbst, Miss Tabitha," Osmond said in a grandfatherly way. "Did you not hear me when I scolded you earlier? It is too dangerous."

"And yet, the longer we linger here wallowing in inaction," Louise said fiercely, "the greater the likelihood that we lose Foquet's trail!"

"We do not have his trail now," Osmond pointed out wearily. "He covered his tracks too well. By now, he's probably long gone from Tristain."

"If it's about tracking him," I said, "I can do that."

Everyone turned to stare at me.

"Can you really?" the headmaster asked.

"Yes, so long as 24 hours hasn't passed, it will be a simple task to retrace his steps," I said. "My skill set was originally meant for these types of tasks anyway. But there's a far more important issue at hand."

"And what would that be?" Osmand asked curiously.

"There should be a bounty on Foquet right?" I said. "How much?"

Louise favored me with a look of disdain. "Even _now_ you're only thinking of money?"

"Of course," I said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "This is a job, after all, and it's only natural to be compensated for a job successfully done."

Osmond blinked at me. Then he started chuckling as if I had told him a funny joke. "Yes, there is a bounty placed on Foquet by the palace. 10,000 gold coins if she is captured alive. 1,000 for her dead. Payable in lump sum."

My face spread into an enormous grin. "Okay. You three," I looked at the three students standing side by side. "You guys stay here. I'll go capture Foquet by myself."

"What!?" Louise hissed angrily. "No. We are going as well."

"No," I shook my head. "None of you were able to do any substantial damage to Foquet or his golem last night. You three will only be a liability in the fight." After a short pause, I added under my breath, "Besides, if you guys came then we'd have to split up the money four ways..."

"What was that?" Louise said sharply.

"Nothing," I said hastily. "The point is that there is no point in you three going."

Louise narrowed her eyes at me. "You're not the one who gets to decide that."

"Actually I am," I said. "I'm the one who can find Foquet after all. So I'll be leaving now. You can try to follow me if you want, but I think you'll find that's a difficult thing to do."

Without another word, I turned and left the office. However, the moment I opened the office doors, I bumped into a pretty, green-haired woman (what was up with these people and their weird hair colors?) and accidentally caused her to drop a stack of papers.

"My bad," I said as I helped the woman pick the papers up.

"Oh, it's no problem at all," she said as I handed her the gathered papers. "Thank you."

The two of us exchanged places as she entered the office and I left it. As the doors closed behind me, I walked over to the nearest window and opened it. Without a second thought, I jumped out of it, letting the winds carry me high into the air.

This was the special privilege of fuujutsushis. The privilege of flight. This was something the users of fire, water, and earth techniques could never accomplish. The thrill of flying like a bird was something that could resonate even within the most broken or cynical of men or women.

Like at the time in the dining hall, the wind spirits began feeding me the information I sought. In my mind, the fight with Foquet was replaying itself from a third person view. Many third person views. The wind spirits were sharing with me what they witnessed. Suddenly, the replay went dark, but not because it ended. Rather, it had turned dark because I was now viewing the scene from within the dome shield Foquet had used to protect himself from my attacks.

Because of how dark the inside of the dome was, it was difficult to make out the features of the thief completely. That was too bad, though I suppose the identity of the thief makes little difference to me. Whoever that person was, I would still capture him and collect the bounty. Suddenly, Foquet sunk into the giant golem's shoulder just as the dome was split open by my air blade, and the wind spirits could tell me no more.

Dammit. This was why I hated dealing with earth magic. It was too damn effective at defending against and hiding things from the wind. Because no air existed below ground, all the wind spirits in the world wouldn't be able to tell me what was happening underground.

With a sigh, I expanded the radius of my search. Once the radius of my search was increased to two miles, the wind spirits picked up on Foquet's trail again. The thief had reappeared within the forest outside of the Academy, the earth having simply spit him out without a trace.

A fuujutsushi's ability to track down a person is never to be underestimated. With a grin, I flew towards where Foquet had reappeared and began retracing his steps. As more information poured in from the wind spirits, it became clear that my last air blade had not been entirely ineffective.

The thief was bleeding from his side, where a long, deep cut had been slashed across his flank as if by a knife. Blood was pouring down his side, and he breathed heavily as he staggered his way through the forest, an endeavor hampered by the long wooden box he carried slung across his back.

Finally, Foquet stumbled into a small, hidden glade, where a small, dilapidated cabin lay in repose. Foquet walked in and set the box against the wall almost carelessly. His face now looking pale from the loss of blood, Foquet went over to a small cabinet and opened it, where several large vials of colorful liquids were sitting.

With shaky fingers, Foquet grabbed a vial containing a red liquid and unstoppered it and then brought it to his lips and drank it. Almost immediately, smoke began to rise up from the wound I had inflicted as it rapidly closed and healed. I couldn't help but let out a low whistle. That was an impressive potion to be able to heal the wound so quickly and easily. As Foquet drank, he upturned the vial to get every last drop, causing the hood of his cloak to fall back and reveal a pretty, green-haired woman.

The same woman I had met at Osmond's office. That's a surprise. Why the hell did she go back to the Academy?

The wind spirits continued to replay the scene that had occurred the night prior. With the wound now healed, Foquet went over to the box and placed it on a small desk in the center of the room. Carefully, she opened it to reveal...

A rocket launcher? This time my jaw dropped in just plain confusion. Why was a _rocket launcher_ of all things in Halkeginia? Logically speaking, someone must have been summoned here from Earth like me whilst holding onto that weapon. I would have to ask Osmond about it sometime. Perhaps the story of its origin here in this world could provide me with a clue on how to get back to Earth.

"_Dammit," Foquet said. "How the hell does this thing work?"_

I let out a laugh as Foquet tried to wave the rocket launcher around like some kind of giant, oversized staff.

"_First the Gandalfr nearly kills me," Foquet grumbled, "and now the Staff of Destruction doesn't even work? This is bullshit!"_

Gandalfr? What did that mean?

"_I need to find out how this thing works or else no one will want to buy it," Foquet muttered to herself as she began pacing the room. "But how do I figure out how to use it?" Foquet stopped in place for a moment, and then sighed regretfully. "It's a long shot, but maybe some of the students or staff knows."_

I see. That explains why she returned to the Academy. To lure the other mages in hopes of having them figure out how to use it. But wait. I had last seen her go into the headmaster's office where... Goddammit. Where I had left Louise and the others.

As if right on cue, a disturbance in the wind stream outside of the cabin alerted me to the presence of others. With a sigh, I grabbed the box containing the rocket launcher from the table and slung it around my shoulder and walked out. There, a small dragon was landing gracefully with Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha on its back.

"Ha! You didn't really think you could leave us behind, did you?" Louise declared proudly as she walked up to me.

"Let me guess," I sighed. "That green-haired woman guided you here, right?"

"You mean Miss Longueville?" Louise said, confused by the sudden tangent. "Yes, she did. She's searching for Foquet from the ground. How did you know?"

I palmed my face and sighed again, more exasperatedly this time. "You idiots."

A giant stone golem, similar to the one from the night before, suddenly rose up from the ground. Though it uttered no sounds, the sheer size and density of it made the earth tremble loudly as it seemingly pulled itself out of the earth like a man out of a pool.

And there, on its shoulder, was a cloaked person. Foquet.

Before the golem could initiate an attack, I called out to the thief, "Hello, Miss Longueville!"

Louise snapped her head towards me. "Miss Longueville? What are you talking about?"

Taken by surprise, Foquet jolted at my casually calling her by her secret identity. Or perhaps Longueville was merely another pseudonym? In any case, the thief slowly reached up to her hood and pulled it back to reveal her face.

"Miss Longueville!" Louise cried out in shock and betrayal. _"You're_ Foquet of the Crumbling Dirt?"

"I am," Foquet answered. "But I am curious to know how you knew that, Gandalfr."

There it is again. Gandalfr. What did she mean by that?

"Trade secrets," I said. "As a thief, I'm sure you would understand the importance of keeping a few secrets."

"I suppose it doesn't matter," Foquet said casually. "Though I dislike doing it, I'm going to have to kill you here and now. You are too dangerous to my plans to be allowed to live."

"Get back on the dragon, Louise," I said as I handed her the box, never allowing myself to take eyes off of Foquet.

"A noble does not run from anything!" Louise said proudly as she whipped out her wand. _"Fireball!"_

An explosion bloomed across the golem's left flank, causing a spiderweb of cracks and fractures. However, that damage was entirely superficial, and the cracks soon disappeared as the golem repaired itself. In return for the attack, the golem brought its enormous fist down towards us. I quickly scooped up Louise in my arms and jumped high into the air, avoiding the heavy attack. Reacting similarly to me, Kirche and Tabitha had already taken to the air on the dragon's back and were now raining down fire and ice on Foquet.

"I really don't have time to coddle your pride," I said as I let go of Louise.

Louise let out a shriek as she fell freely for a moment, before my winds gathered around and and transported her over to her classmates, where she was promptly deposited upon the dragon's back. The box containing the rocket launcher was similarly sent over to them.

"Stay back!" I told them as I gathered the wind spirits and then unleashed them as a flurry of air blades down upon the golem.

Seeing this, Foquet immediately sank herself into the golem's body, protecting her from the air blades as they sliced into the giant stone construct. I had put nearly three times more power into each of these air blades than I had in our last fight. As such, they sheared through even the golem's thick limbs and thicker body with the greatest of ease.

With a loud thud, the golem's arms fell off its body and crumbled into dirt at its feet, while dozens of deep cuts were carved into the rest of its body. However, like before, the golem regenerated from its damage without a single trace.

With its newly regenerated arms, the golem ripped out a tree from its roots and hurled it at me. I slashed my hand across the air, causing a current of wind to veer the flying tree sharply at a downward angle away to my right.

"Damn, she's a tough one," I muttered to myself.

As it stood, without an absolutely overwhelming force to destroy the golem in a single attack, it would continue regenerating. And so long as that golem remained, Foquet could not be attacked easily, especially since there was no way to know where in the golem's body she was hiding. While I was capable of using the necessary overwhelming force, I ran the risk of killing her and losing out on 9,000 gold coins in doing so.

It seemed, then, that this would have to be a battle of attrition. I doubted that Foquet would be able to keep up this fight longer than I could. Which meant that it was but a simple matter to just tire out Foquet by constantly forcing her to use up her energy to maintain and regenerate the golem.

"Tabitha! Levitate me down!" came Louise's voice.

… Unless Louise does something stupid like that. The pink-haired girl jumped off the dragon, and Tabitha quickly pointed her staff at Louise, slowing her descent substantially. In Louise's hands was the rocket launcher.

I could all but hear what Louise was thinking at the moment: _Since that familiar of mine can't destroy Foquet's golem, the only option left is to use the Staff of Destruction!_ Or something like that.

When Louise landed on the ground, she began waving the rocket launcher in a manner similar to the way Foquet had the night before. Because Louise was far more petite than Foquet, the result was that much more comical.

"Why won't this thing work?" Louise cried out desperately as she continued to wave the rocket launcher. "Isn't this supposed to be the Staff of Destruction?"

The golem reached out toward's Louise with one enormous hand, not to punch or strike, but to grab. It made sense since Louise was holding onto Foquet's prize.

Instead of running away, Louise continued to wave the rocket launcher in a desperate, but futile action.

"This damn girl," I swore under my breath as I dived down as fast as I could and grabbed Louise as I streaked past the golem's hand. "Are you insane!?" I demanded as soon as we were higher up in the air. "Why didn't you run away!?"

"A noble does not run!" Louise shouted back, the close proximity causing my ears to ring._ "I_ do not run!"

"And you would die instead?" I said incredulously. "Are you stupid?"

"Shut up! Shut up shut up shut up! You don't understand a single thing!" Louise said, tears now streaming down her face. "You aren't a noble who was born without even a drop of talent in magic! You don't know what it's like seeing your family's faces after they see you fail every single time! The looks of disappointment and shame and pity! If I run away, then I throw away the last thing that makes me a noble! My pride! I would rather die than lose that!"

I paused for a moment as Louise sniffled and wiped her tears away with one hand. Below us, Kirche and Tabitha were keeping Foquet at bay with their spells.

Then, in a voice so soft and gentle that it surprised even me, I spoke. "In my world, I was born into the head family of the strongest and most famous clan of fire mages in the world, where everyone in the family could use fire magic. Everyone, except me. I was the only one who could not use fire magic in the slightest. Because of that, for nearly 18 years I was burned and beaten by almost everyone in the family." Louise was watching me now with wide, still watery eyes. "Then, after I was beaten instantly in a ceremonial battle to determine the heir to the head of the clan, my parents both disowned me and banished me from the family."

"B-but you're so strong," Louise said weakly.

"With wind magic," I said. "A type of magic that is looked down upon by that clan for its relatively low combat power. The point is, Louise, I _do_ understand what you're going through. Which is why I can say this for sure: to sacrifice your life for the sake of your pride is a foolish thing. It doesn't matter if you have your pride or not if you're dead, because once you die, that's the end of everything. Nothing else matters. That is why above all else, you must strive to live. If you live, who knows what can happen? You might find your own talent, like I did with my fuujutsu. You might not. But unless you continue to live, you will never know. So don't throw away your life here, in a place like this, understand?"

Louise sniffed and nodded. She glanced aside for a moment and then frowned. "Kazuma, your runes are glowing."

I blinked and looked at my left hand, which was partially touching the rocket launcher. Sure enough, the runes were glowing. And with it, somehow knowledge of the weapon was pouring into my mind. Even though I had never used a rocket launcher before, I knew for sure that I could use it right now.

"Louise," I said, "I'm going to need you to stay on that dragon. I'm going to end this now."

"Okay," Louise said as I sent her flying back to the dragon.

I descended down to the ground with the rocket launcher, a M72 LAW to be precise, though how I knew was still a mystery to me, in hand. Though the golem was rushing for me, I had made sure to land a safe distance away from it. Thus, by the time that big, slow thing came within range to attack me, it would be too late.

With an almost instinctual ease, I took out the arming handle, opened the rear cover, extended the inner tube, flipped up the telescope sight, released the safety latch, aimed, and then fired.

A thunderous roar heralded the projectile that flew from the rocket launcher. The rocket struck the golem squarely in the chest and exploded. When the smoke and dust cleared, everything above the golem's waist had completely disappeared, disintegrated into nothing by the Earthling weapon.

This proved to be the overwhelming attack necessary to destroy the golem. The remaining parts of the golem began disintegrating into dust. In its place was Foquet. I let out an involuntary sigh of relief. It seemed that she had taken refuge in the golem's right leg. That made sense now that I think about it, since all of our attacks had been coming from above.

"Marvelous," Foquet said. "The Staff of Destruction is truly an amazing artifact. But now that I know how it works, I have no more need for you."

"You want this?" I shook the rocket launcher temptingly in my hands. "Catch!"

I threw the rocket launcher high into the air. Foquet let out a shriek of panic at seeing her valuable prize about to be destroyed and ran forward to catch it, completely forgetting about my presence in process. I brought down a hammerblow of wind straight down on top of Foquet, flattening her into the ground. At the same time, I used smaller air blades to sever her wand into pieces and caught the rocket launcher with the wind spirits.

And as the dragon landed and Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha dismounted, I found myself grinning broadly. I had just earned 10,000 gold coins.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"So Miss Longueville was truly Foquet of the Crumbling Dirt?" Osmond said gravely.

"Yes, Headmaster," Louise, once again having been quietly elected as the unofficial spokesperson. "Her plan was to lure students or teachers out into the forest in hopes of baiting them into using the Staff of Destruction, thereby learning how to use it herself. Only, Kazuma used it to destroy Foquet's golem and then defeat her."

"I see," Osmond said as he nodded sagely. "Well, that's the last time I'm ever hiring a random woman from the tavern just because she let me rub her butt."

"_That's_ why you hired her?" Colbert said incredulously from beside Osmond.

"In my defense, she had a very nice butt and she did not care when I rubbed it," Osmond said without a hint of shame. "Though in retrospect, I suppose that was because she wanted to get information on the treasury vault. I wonder how she knew that brute physical force was the vault's only weakness?"

Colbert coughed and flushed red. "That is a very good question that I am absolutely positive we will never find the answer to."

"Well, in any case," Osmond said, "I shall request that you two, Miss Valliere and Miss Zerbst, be honored with the Chevalier's title, and that Miss Tabitha, who already is a Chevalier, be awarded the Elven Medallion."

Louise and Kirche squealed gleefully, while Tabitha flipped a page on the book she was reading, supremely disinterested with all that was happening.

"Um... Headmaster?" Louise said as the grin on her face faded. "What about Kazuma? We really couldn't have done this without him."

"Unfortunately, because he is a familiar, he will not be rewarded," Osmond said gently.

"That's fine," I said. "All I want is the bounty reward. That, and I'd like for you to answer a few questions."

"By all means," Osmond said. "Ask, and I shall try my best to answer."

"First of all, the thing you call the Staff of Destruction is actually called the M72 LAW," I said. "It's a weapon from my world."

"Your world?" Osmond, Colbert, and Kirche all said at the same time. Tabitha closed her book and looked at me intently.

"Yes," I said. "I'm from a world called Earth, and this thing," I pointed at the rocket launcher sitting on the headmaster's desk, "is an old weapon from Earth. I would like you to tell me all that you know of how this weapon came to this world, to Halkeginia."

Osmond stroked his beard and leaned back in his chair. "It was twenty years ago now, I believe, when I had been traveling alone through the forest, whereupon I was attacked by a wild dragon. I would have died then, but just as I was about to be killed, a stranger dressed in the strangest clothes I had ever seen suddenly appeared and used one Staff of Destruction to slay the dragon instantly."

"What happened to that man?" I prompted.

"He was already injured grievously when he saved me," Osmond said sadly. "Though I did my best to heal him, I was not a healer by trade and the potions I had with me were insufficient in healing his many wounds. On his death bed, he kept saying over and over, 'Where is this place? Home, home, I want to go back to my world.' At the time, I had thought he was having delusions from being mortally wounded, but now I understand he was from this 'Earth.' I buried that man with one of his weapons and took the second as a personal reminder of his courage and strength."

"Dammit," I growled. "So that leaves me with no clues on how to get back to Earth."

"I'm sorry I could not tell you what you wanted to hear," Osmond said sympathetically.

"Don't worry about it," I said with an airy wave of my hand. "I do have one more question though."

"Yes?" Osmond said.

"What is a 'Gandalfr?'" I asked.

"Where did you hear that?" Osmond said sharply.

"Foquet called me that."

"Ha..." Osmond sighed. "I should have been more careful to not have been overheard... The Gandalfr is one of the four legendary familiars of Founder Brimir. It is said that the Gandalfr has the ability to use any weapon and to defeat one thousand men on his own."

"Well that explains how I could use the M72 without ever having seen one before," I noted.

"Indeed," Osmond agreed. "And it's also something all of us here must keep a secret."

"Why is that, Headmaster?" Louise asked curiously.

"The Gandalfr is reputed to be of legendary strength," Osmond explained. "If the nobility knew of the reemergence of such a being, they would no doubt try to use Kazuma for their own purposes, especially if they knew that he can also use Ancient Magic, or at least something similar to it."

"That would be anno-..." I paused and narrowed my eyes. Something clicked inside my head. _"__You're_ the one who suppressed news of my duel with Guiche from spreading! I thought that it was strange that no one came after me like Louise warned me for what I did to Guiche. You made sure that no one outside of the Academy knew!"

"Is that true, Headmaster?" Louise asked.

Osmond smiled. "Yes. And I was also responsible for spreading the rumors that you couldn't actually use magic and you won through luck." Osmond stood up from his seat. "Now then. You all should go get some rest. Tonight's Ball of Friggs will be in your honor, all of you, for the capture of Foquet."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

I sighed contentedly as I sat perched precariously on the railing of the balcony. Behind me, I could hear the soft sound of music and chatter. My only companion was a bottle of Albionion wine that sat on the railing beside me and the wine cup I was sipping from in my hand.

As I watched the moon peacefully, I couldn't help but think that this was truly the perfect way to relax and wind down after a job well done. Good wine, a quiet, clear night, and a beautiful night sky. Perfect.

It was because of my contentment that I almost didn't sense the presence that was coming up behind me.

"Did you need something, Louise?" I asked without turning around.

"How did you know it was me?" Louise asked.

I chuckled. "The wind told me. So? Did you need something?"

Louise leaned against her elbows on the railing and looked at me from my side. I briefly glanced at her from the corner of my eyes to note her elegant appearance. Her hair was tied up into a pony tail and she wore a beautiful white dress with matching long gloves. I had little doubt that she had likely been asked to dance by many of the male students. "Why aren't you dancing? I know for a fact that Kirche would want to."

"I think Kirche is a bit busy with the twenty guys lined up to dance with her." I took another sip of wine. "Though I'm quite sure that they want to do more than just dance."

"Hmph. Typical Zerbst," Kirche scoffed. "Despite that, you're still willing to... be with her?"

"I'm not really 'with' her," I shrugged. "I was sick of sleeping on benches, and she had a bed and offered to share it with me. That alone was enough to convince me to follow her to her room."

"Then if we buy you your own bed, you wouldn't have any reason to sleep in her room, right?" Louise said.

"I suppose not." Though I still might. "But is that really all you came here for? To keep me away from Kirche?"

"The Valliere-Zerbst family feud has been going on for generations," Louise said seriously. "There's no way I'm letting anything or anyone affiliated with the Valliere family go over to the Zerbsts."

I rolled my eyes and sighed. "Fine, fine. But is that all?"

Louise looked up at the moons for a moment before responding. "What you said when we fought Foquet. About how you were born talentless like me and disowned," Louise said quietly. "Was all of that really true?"

"Completely. Except for my younger brother, who still loved me."

"I see... I'm sorry."

I nearly choked and coughed on my wine. Did I just hear that right? Louise apologizing to someone she considered beneath her?

"Could you repeat that?" I asked.

"I said I'm sorry," Louise said, turning her face away from me.

"What for?" I said.

"For what you said before," Louise said. "About how I ripped you away from your friends and family and your lover. About how I took you away from your homeplanet."

"Ah, that."

"I don't agree with everything you say," Louise said, "but I agree that I did wrong you in that much at the very least."

I drank deeply from my wine cup before I answered. "Thank you," I said. "But you don't need to worry too much about that."

"What do you mean?" Louise turned to look at me.

"Like I said before, my family disowned me, so I no longer have a family, not one that I care about anyway. I also have no friends and my lover died years ago. So there's actually no one on Earth that is searching desperately for me. That part of my speech back then was just a big 'what-if' scenario."

"Wha?" Louise's jaw dropped and a look of anger spread on her face. "You mean to tell me that I just swallowed my pride and apologized to my familiar for _nothing?_ I felt bad and guilty about absolutely nothing at all?"

"It's the thought that counts," I said with a mischievous grin. "Besides, it's a good thing that you did. It means you're improving as a person. Oh, and by the way, I don't normally talk about my past. The fact that I did is going to cost you five gold coins. You have three days to pay me."

Louise was shaking visibly in anger, like a volcano just before it reached its critical mass and erupted. So naturally, I grabbed my wine bottle and jumped off the balcony, to fly and escape the inevitable eruption. As I flew, I heard the eruption explode behind me.

"GET BACK HERE YOU GREEDY DOG!"


	5. Chapter 5 - Repaying a Debt

_Authors Notes:_

_First of all, thanks to everyone who has been reading and supporting my first story on fanfiction. I really appreciate it._

_Second, I have a question for you guys. How the hell do I know how many visitors my story has received? When I look at the traffic graph, it tells me I have had a certain number of visitors. But when I look at the bottom half of the page, where it breaks it down by chapter, the number of visitors clearly adds up to far more than what it told me before. I'm so confused and it's been bothering the hell out of me for the past couple days._

_Third, the reason why my updates just suddenly stopped was because of dead week, which is FINALLY over. Then I have finals next week. Sooo gotta study some more. This will probably be my last update until Tuesday, but don't hold me to that in either way._

_Now about the reviews. Thanks again to everyone who has been posting a review. It means a lot. I'd like to answer a few of the review questions and comments._

_I have no foreseeable plans that involve making Derflinger as big of a character as he was in the LN. And I am especially not going to give him to Kazuma. The reason is because, like I stated before, Kazuma is already too damn overpowered. I have no intention at all of making him stronger than he already is unless I really, really need to. That being said, that doesn't mean he won't be showing up._

_I have other elements of Kaze no Stigma planned to make an appearance right now. Two of them, in fact. But they'll be coming much later. If I think of more ideas to use, I'll add them too. _

_For those who want to see more of Foquet, fear not! I already had plans in mind for her before I even began writing this story. I'm hoping to give her a bigger role than she did in the LN after she was beaten as the big bad. Starting from this very chapter in fact. _

_Lastly, the question was asked about which Kazuma I would be using: the LN version or the anime version. I plan to use both, but to base it mostly on the LN version because the anime Kazuma is pretty much a watered down version of LN Kazuma. _

_Speaking of LN vs anime version, I'll be using elements of both LN and anime ZnT in this story. I'll be trying to keep as much of it as I can rooted in the LN ZnT, but some parts of the anime are either something I want to write on or just too convenient to pass up on. _

_On a final note, I wrote this as fast as I could without going back to revise and edit it. I just really wanted to get something out after not having written for like the past four days as a way to relax. And with that said, that's the end of me. Now on to what you're actually here to read. _

**-STORY START-**

Foquet sighed as she laid on the bed provided with her prison cell, though it felt more like a slab of stone rather than an actual bed. It had such a thin mattress that there may as well have been none at all. Not that she could blame anyone for it. This was the cell meant to hold death row prisoners. Comfort for such a prisoner was not an important concern to anyone involved. But that didn't really bother her too much. What bothered her was how unbelievably bored she felt.

As a result of her prolific thievery, she had almost instantly been condemned to death by hanging. Her execution date was slated to be in less than a month. There was something strange about knowing that your death was imminent and inevitable. Knowing that you were about to die with no hope for survival at all made fear meaningless. It was almost empowering. Instead, the mind wandered over to other things, such as the life one had lived up until that point. About the special people who would mourn if they knew of their loved one's death.

Foquet sighed again, more sadly this time as she thought about Tiffania. The poor girl would be wondering where her older sister had gone when she never showed up or made contact ever again. Perhaps she could ask as a last request if she be allowed to send a letter? But... No. That meant risking revealing Tiffania's location to the nobility, and she would rather die a hundred times over before she allowed that to happen.

With the highly trained senses of a professional thief, Foquet sat up and watched the hallway that fed into the dungeon. The sound of soft steps echoed down the stone hall. Someone was coming. As gracefully and eerily as a ghost, a person obscured entirely by a large cloak glided into the dungeon and stood in front of her cell.

"Good evening, Foquet of the Crumbling Dirt," the stranger said in an unnaturally deep baritone voice, a voice clearly modified through the use of magic to obscure every possible detail that would give the person beneath the cloak away.

"Are you an assassin of some noble I pissed off?" Foquet asked with genuine contempt. "Some bastard couldn't wait long enough to see me hanged and decided to take things into his own hands? Is that it?"

The stranger chuckled softly in that same deep and fake voice. "I am no assassin, Foquet of the Crumbling Dirt. Or perhaps I should call you by your true name? Lady Matilda of Saxe-Gotha."

Foquet's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "Where did you hear that name?" Foquet snarled.

The stranger chuckled more noticeably. "You have been here in this cell for a week now with your face no longer hidden from us. Did you _really_ think that there would be no investigations done at all in regards to your true identity?"

"Actually, yes," Foquet said acerbically. "Nobles generally don't care about people like me except for how long it takes for me to hang."

"Be that as it may, the palace has done quite an extensive research into your history, though there are still details that remain unclear or unknown. Details I suspect you ensured were destroyed when you fled the royal family of Albion," the stranger said. "It was but a simple matter for one such as I to... shall we say, take a peek at the reports."

"So if you're not planning to kill me, what do you want?" Foquet asked. "What are you here for?"

"I offer you freedom."

"Oh?" Foquet arched an eyebrow. "And I don't suppose you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart?"

"Hardly," the stranger said without rancor or sarcasm. "I offer you a position in a certain organization. And also a job."

"Tell me more," Foquet said, still suspicious, but now openly interested.

"The princess will be leaving for Germania to discuss the upcoming marriage and alliance in three days," the stranger said. "However, she will be stopping by the Academy to attend the Evaluation Fair and to offer her thanks to those who captured you. That is what is known to the public. I know for certain, however, that she plans to ask her old friend, Louise Valliere, a name I'm sure you're familiar with by now, to go on a secret mission."

Foquet narrowed her eyes. "What kind of mission?"

"Before I go any further, I must know," the stranger said. "Will you join us or not?"

"The only other alternative is death, isn't it?" Foquet said sarcastically and with grim amusement. "I hardly suspect you would simply let me go after hearing so much already."

"You're intelligent and rational," the stranger said approvingly. Though Foquet couldn't see it beneath the shadows of the cloak, she was certain that the stranger must have smiled. "I can appreciate that. So you'll join us then?"

"I will," Foquet said. "Tell me more."

The stranger nodded slightly. "The secret mission will be to go to Albion, which as you know is currently in a state of civil war, and retrieve a certain object from Prince Wales."

"And where do I come in?" Foquet prompted.

"A suspicious man will be accompanying the daughter of Valliere," the stranger said. "I know not of his intentions. I want you to covertly follow them and to eliminate him if it seems he will become a problem."

"I am no assassin nor a fighter. I am a thief," Foquet said. "The likelihood of my success should it come to that is not particularly high, especially since I've lost to the girl's familiar already."

"I never said it would be easy, did I?" the stranger said calmly. "And of all those I know or have ever heard about, you have the greatest likelihood of success. If I had a better option, I would not be here."

Foquet stood up and walked over to the cell's door. "I understand. Let me out."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

This was the life. After having turned over Foquet and receiving my 10,000 gold coins, the first and immediate action I took was to order a nice bed to be installed in Louise's room. My own bed. It wasn't nearly as large as Louise's queen sized bed, but it was large enough to fit me comfortably, and was every bit as soft and comfortable as any other luxury beds.

And now here I was, just lying on the bed, letting my body simply melt into its comforting softness. Truly blissful. Nearby, Louise was sitting on her bed with a strangely contemplative look on her face. What she was thinking about was anybody's guess.

As if reading my own mind, Louise suddenly spoke up. "Kazuma, I have a question to ask."

"Ask away," I replied lazily.

"The Staff of Destruction..." Louise paused, then shook her head. "I mean, that 'rocket launcher' you used on Foquet's golem is a weapon that basically causes an explosion right?"

"Yep," I said.

"Explosions aren't considered failures in your world?" Louise asked.

"Yes and no," I said. "It's all about when and where and in what circumstances the explosion takes place. If, for example, your car – ah, a car is basically a carriage that can drive itself at high speeds without magic or animals pulling it - suddenly explodes, then that would be a failure. But for things like that rocket launcher, then it would be considered a failure if it _didn't_ explode. Making things blow up is the intention of that weapon after all."

"So explosions are useful, right?" Louise said.

"Yep," I said. "There are so many things explosions are crucial for. Way too many for me to care to list, honestly. But I'll tell you this, the strongest weapon in my world is called a nuclear weapon. It's a weapon that causes such a powerful explosion, just one can literally destroy an entire city and the millions and millions of lives within it. And then it releases something called 'radiation' which, put very simply, is like an airborne poison that will spread from the blast area and infect and kill even more lives. If two countries were to use these weapons freely in a war, all life on the planet would be killed. There is no other weapon, no type of magic that is comparable to it on Earth. It is the ultimate explosion."

"What?" Louise gasped. "Surely it must use very powerful magic in that case?"

"Nope," I said. "Made completely through non-magical means by people who weren't and aren't even aware of the existence of magic outside of fictitious stories."

"But that's impossible!" Louise shook her head in disbelief. "Not even magic is capable of causing such destruction."

"Hence why it's the absolute strongest tool of destruction," I said. "But never mind that. What's up with all the questions?"

"I decided that I'm going to learn to master and control my explosions," Louise declared.

"Oh, that's good," I said as I closed my eyes and shifted into a more comfortable position on my bed. "Why the sudden decision?"

"All my life, I've been told I'm a failure because all I can do is make explosions," Louise said. "But then I saw you use a weapon that caused such a strong explosion that it destroyed something that neither Kirche or Tabitha, the two best mages in our year, could even scratch. If your weapon can create an explosion like that, why can't I?" Louise paused for a moment, before continuing in a more somber tone. "Besides, I've tried all my life to use magic like the others, but it's never happened. It's time I stopped trying to waste my efforts in doing something that I can't, and to do what I _can_ do."

"Mmm."

"Kazuma? Were you even listening?" Louise said tersely.

"Of course I was," I said. "It was a mature decision for you to make."

"So do you have any suggestions on how to get started?" Louise asked.

"Not really. It's not like I'm all that familiar with your people's magic."

"I'll give you two gold coins if you help."

"Deal," I said as I sat up and faced Louise, who, it seemed, had at some point moved to stand at my bedside. She handed me two gleaming golden coins and I pulled out a large bag from beneath my bed. When I opened the bag, I was greeted with the sight of thousands of gold coins. My reward for capturing Foquet. I added two more coins to the pile before once more tying it off and sticking it beneath the bed.

"The one and only thing you'll need is a large, clear space," I said. "Explosions tend to be very destructive, after all, so you'll want some place where the only damage you could cause is tearing up the ground. Your training should focus on learning to control the size, power, and range of your explosions. Explosions are incredibly powerful, but because of that, you need to make sure you don't cause unnecessary amounts of damage. Collateral damage and friendly fire are very real risks of using explosions. For now, keep your explosions small, controlled, and accurate. Try and keep the size of it no bigger than a ball or something."

"Shouldn't I learn to use and control big explosions instead though?" Louise frowned. "A small explosion wouldn't have helped verses Foquet after all."

"Stick with small explosions for now," I said. "Remember that contest you were having with Kirche before Foquet showed up? You had terrible aim. If you try to use big explosions, you're probably going to hurt or kill someone, someone who might be on your side."

"Point taken," Louise said grimly. Though she looked displeased at my backhanded insult, she seemed to understand the logic and truth behind it. "And where would I find such a clearing to practice?"

"There's that place we fought Foquet at," I suggested.

Louise shook her head. "Too far."

"I could fly you there," I offered.

"And let you charge me more money?" Louise scoffed. "I don't think so."

"Well, what about the Vestri Courtyard then?" I said, recalling the spacious and clear place I had dueled Guiche in. "Just make sure to aim away from the castle."

Louise frowned as she considered that. Then she nodded. "That will suffice. I'm going to start now then, since today is the Day of the Void."

"Did you want me to come with you as a coach?" I asked.

Louise paused at the doorway long enough to look at me over her shoulder and say, "So that you can charge me more money? I don't think so."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

After Louise left, I waited for a few minutes before I did the same. Without anything to do, I meandered throughout the castle. What to do, what to do? This primitive, backwards land had little in the way of entertainment.

I suppose I could go talk to Siesta? She was probably busy working, so I shouldn't bother her too much, but I could at least pop by and say hello. With an affirmative nod to myself, I set out for the kitchens.

On my first couple days in this Academy, I had been forced to use the wind spirits to guide me to where I wanted to go, which meant getting from point A to point B took more time than needed. Now, however, I had the layout of the castle fairly well memorized, so it took me only a few minutes to arrive at the kitchens, which, as usual, was wafting with the delicious aroma of fresh food. Just the mere smell of it was enough to set my stomach growling.

I walked into the kitchen and looked around, searching for Siesta. Strangely, however, she wasn't anywhere in the kitchen. I did notice Head Chef Marteau talking to a few of his subordinate cooks, so I went to talk to him instead.

"Hello, Marteau," I greeted.

"Oh! If it isn't Kazuma!" Marteau said cheerfully in his typical booming voice, and he smiled upon seeing me. "How are you doing? I heard that those snobby nobles haven't even thanked you for helping to capture Foquet."

"Oh, don't worry about that. I've been thanked plenty already," I said as I recalled the bag of gold in my room. "By the way, do you know where Siesta is?"

Marteau's smile faltered, then faded into a frown. "You mean, you haven't heard?"

"Heard what?" I asked curiously.

"Well..." Marteau hesitated for a moment, appearing as if he was debating internally, before finally coming to a decision. "She was hired by Lord Mott. He asked for her by name."

"Okay...?" I said, a little unsure of why that was so hard to say. "What's wrong about that? It's normal for workers to seek other employment opportunities, isn't it? And if she's recognized as a good worker, all the better."

"If that was all, then it would be fine, but... well..." Marteau said. There was something plaintive and painful in his voice.

"Marteau? What's wrong?" I said seriously. "What is this Mott person planning to do with Siesta?"

Marteau squeezed his eyes shut as if he didn't want to look at something horrifying before him. When he spoke, it was with a voice thick with pain and grief.

"When a noble asks to hire a maid by name," Marteau said quietly, "it means that he wants to make her what nobles would call 'mistresses,' but what we know as 'sex slaves.'"

I tensed at those words and my eyes narrowed. "I see," I said with a cold calm. "And she's okay with this?"

"Of course she's not!" Marteau said in a tone that mixed both outrage and thick grief. "How could she be? But what can she do? In the end, when nobles command, commoners can only obey."

"I see," I repeated. Then, without another word, I turned and began walking out of the kitchen.

"Wait, Kazuma!" Marteau called out. I paused to look back at him. "Siesta is like a daughter to me, and I'm angry too about this, but you mustn't do anything rash! There's a reason why Siesta didn't want you to find out about this! There's nothing we can do!"

I looked at Marteau with a small, emotionless smile. "Had this been four years ago, I would have agreed."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"What are you doing, Kazuma?"

I opened my eyes to see Louise staring up at me with her chestnut colored eyes. Judging by the thin sheen of sweat covering her face, she had been working hard in her practice. I couldn't help but wonder how much of an improvement she had made, if any.

"I'm gathering information," I said even as the wind spirits continued to pour what they had seen of Siesta in the last 24 hours into my mind.

"Information?" Louise tilted her head in a questioning gesture. "What information?"

"Do you know about a nobleman named Mott?" I said.

"Jour de Mott?" Louise arched an eyebrow at the non sequitur. "I do, actually. He works in the palace and is a fairly well known noble. He's not as high status as the Valliere family, but he has a lot of influence with the mid and lower class nobles. Why? What's this all about?"

"Apparently he's taken Siesta to be his mistress," I growled as I closed my eyes again to concentrate on the information and the memories of the wind spirits were feeding me.

"Who's Siesta?"

"A maid that works..." I paused, then corrected myself. "Worked here at the Academy."

"Oh I see," Louise said simply. "Well that's too bad. There isn't much we can do about that."

My eyes shot open. "That's too bad?" I echoed incredulously. "There isn't much we can do about that? Of course there is! We can go find Mott and bring back Siesta! It'll be easy!"

But Louise simply shook her head. "No, we can't. Mott hired this maid legitimately. We have no right to simply go and take her back simply because you want to. Even if he is planning to take her as a mistress, that's ultimately his right. The law is on his side. Besides," Louise shrugged carelessly, "she's just a commoner."

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.

I opened my eyes and favored Louise with an icy cold look. "Do you know what the best part about being as powerful as I am is?"

"What?" Louise said, thoroughly confused at my second seemingly random segue.

"It's that I don't need to obey laws that are so clearly wrong," I said calmly. "The laws that were made by the nobles and for the nobles. It's that I can just go and do what I think is right without giving a damn what others think."

"Kazuma!" Louise hissed. "You must _not _do this! This isn't just about you! You're my familiar, which means that what you do reflects upon me and my family as well! If you do this, you're going to damage the reputation of the Valliere family! This isn't like the fight against Guiche! This is on a _felony!"_

"You know," I said coldly, "I had thought, I had hoped that you were a better person than this. Reputation? Felony? Who cares about that? I'm going to save Siesta, with or without you."

Ah. The wind spirits finally found Mott's trail. I flew up into the air and used the wind to bend the refraction of light around me, turning myself invisible to the naked eye.

"Get back here!" Louise screamed as she looked around the air, searching for a sign of me.

Without a word, I simply flew away.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

Mott, thankfully, did not live far away from the Academy. By foot, it likely would have taken perhaps two or so hours to reach. But because I was flying at a high speed, it had taken me less than half an hour to reach it. With the afternoon sun at my back, I looked down at the estate.

As far as size went, this place seemed to be on the smaller end of luxurious. Despite that, however, it was impressive in quality of design. It had well kept lawns, elegantly designed gardens, and a magnificently constructed mansion. Surrounding the grounds were iron fences forming a square around the grounds. It had only one entrance by ground, and that was guarded by two guards wielding spears and dressed in steel armor.

I landed down invisibly in the grounds proper, completely bypassing the two guards stationed at the entrance gate, and strode into the mansion with a calm, confident demeanor.

"Halt!" Two sharp spears were suddenly aimed precariously close to my throat. "Name yourself!"

I looked at the two guards who were glaring at me with angry looks. "My name is Kazuma Yagami," I said calmly. "I'm here to talk to Mott and have him return the maid he recently hired."

"_Lord_ Mott," one of the guards, the burlier of the two, corrected me. "And his Excellency doesn't have time to deal with riffraff like you."

I rolled my eyes. I didn't have time for this. In an instant, the two guards suddenly came down with a serious and potentially fatal case of missing their head from their body. The air blades decapitated them so quickly and cleanly that they did not even have time to feel pain before they died.

With the two distractions out of the way, I spread my consciousness throughout the entirety of the mansion by using the wind spirits as a medium. In that fashion, I quickly found the location of Siesta, who, according to what I was seeing through the wind spirits, was quietly pouring wine into a middle-aged man's wine cup even as he continued groping her in wholly inappropriate places. Though she blushed furiously with shame, Siesta stoically continued to do her job.

She had changes to her. Instead of wearing the modest black and white maid uniform of the Academy, she was now dressed in a highly fetching, even fetishized, uniform. It was a short red skirt that came up to just a few inches below the waist, a small white apron that was clearly too impractical for any actual cooking and food related purposes, and black stockings that emphasized Siesta's long, slim legs.

Following the direction of the spirits, I went up two flights of stairs to the third floor, dealing with five more guards on the way, and walked over towards the study room where Siesta and Mott were. Without preamble, I opened the door and walked in.

"Kazuma?" Siesta said in shock. "What are you doing here?"

"Indeed," Mott narrowed his eyes at me furiously. "What is a commoner like you trespassing in my home?"

"I am taking Siesta back," I said calmly. "She doesn't belong with you."

Mott stared at me for a moment with an incredulous look on his face. Then he began laughing loudly. "Unbelievable. You, a mere commoner, committed the crime of trespassing into a noble's home to ask me to return a mere maid? Hahaha!"

By this point, Mott was actually pounding his oaken desk with one hand while he held onto his wine cup with the other, its contents splashing over the rim as he laughed.

"The guards will be coming for you soon," Mott said, all traces of his former glee having vanished from his face, replaced now by cruel authority. "You will then be escorted to prison where you will be fortunate if you can spend the rest of your life there. Listen well, foolish commoner, this maid belongs to _me_ now."

As if to prove a point, Mott put down his wine cup and used his freed hand to grope Siesta's breasts, painfully too, it seemed, judging by the way Siesta winced. She saw me looking, and then turned her face away quickly in shame. I found myself breathing very shallowly as a deep, cold anger filled my being.

"There are three mistakes you just made," I informed Mott with an eerie calm. "The first is that there is no amount of guards that can arrest me. The second is that I did not _ask_ you anything. I am merely stating a fact. When I leave, it will be with Siesta. The third," I launched an air blade at Mott's groping arm, severing it cleanly at the elbow, "is that you should not have touched Siesta with your filthy hands."

Mott blinked for a moment as he stared at his stump of an arm, seemingly unable to believe what had just happened. Then he started screaming.

"AIIIIIIIIEEEEEEEE!" Mott screeched hideously as he clutched his bleeding stump. "MY ARM! MY ARM!"

I strode across the room in three steps to where Mott was, and then delivered a powerful blow against his face with my fist, sending him crashing from his chair into the ground, into a pool of his own blood. He crawled desperately towards a short staff, or a very long wand, which sat leaning against the wall.

I watched as he quickly uttered strange words as he kept the staff aimed at his stump. A soft, blue light flowed out of the stick and wrapped itself around the bloody stump, causing the bleeding to almost immediately stop.

"Y-you bastard!" Mott said, bringing forth as much courage as he could muster. It was useless though. Even if he had stopped the bleeding, he had already lost too much blood for his body to function normally. He was shaking, wavering, even as he simply stood there. His wand-arm, too, was unable to maintain a bead on me. His vision, no doubt, had long since turned blurred and dimmed. _"__Aqua Blast!"_

Like a flash flood, water surged out of Mott's staff and raged towards me as a mighty torrent. Despite his physical injury and dulled senses, the spell was right on target. It was impressive, honestly, and a testament to his skill. But even if he had been at full strength, it would not have been enough.

The water crashed into my wind barrier, dispersing to either side of me exactly like when a river crashes against a mighty boulder in its path. I glanced aside a moment to check on Siesta, to make sure she wasn't being hurt by any collateral damage. She wasn't, though she did have a look of hope and glee on her face.

An air blade flew from my barrier, slicing straight through the middle of the torrent Mott was unleashing on me, severing his wand and his remaining arm in one move.

By this point, pain was the last thing on Mott's mind. His face said it all. There was only one pervading thought in his mind: absolute fear.

"E-elf," Mott whimpered fearfully. "Y-y-you're an elf."

"No," I said. "I'm a human. And also the one person you should not have pissed off."

The doors to the study suddenly crashed open as nearly ten guards streamed into the room. A look of hopeful energy spread across Mott's face.

"Kill that man!" Mott wailed. "Kill him!"

In response, I simply slashed my arm horizontally behind me. The wind spirits heeded my action and formed an air blade that severed every one of the guards' heads from their bodies with a single slash. The look of fear had returned to Mott's face.

"W-w-wait!" Mott cried. "You can take the maid! I'll do whatever you want, but please spare me!"

"No." My answer came as a cold iron blow to Mott, whose face contorted into a sick amalgam of fear and desperation. "You're crime is severe. In my eyes, you deserve nothing more than a cruel, painful death. But I shall not be the one to decide that." I nodded at Siesta. "Siesta, you are the one he wronged. It's your choice, if you want it. You can decide whether he lives or dies."

Mott looked frantically at me, then at Siesta, and then began crawling over to her desperately. "Siesta, my sweet Siesta, please, you must allow me to live! Think of all that I've done for you! I'm paying you almost twice as much as what the Academy was and I've given you your own room! And we can still enjoy many things together! Please, spare me and tell him to leave us alone!"

Siesta looked at Mott with a cold, dark look that I had only seen once before, when she had been describing the things nobles did to commoners. The very same thing, in fact, that had been done to her by Mott.

"You forcibly took me from the Academy in order to become your sex slave," Siesta said as she shivered with fury, "and you thought that I would actually enjoy that? You wanted to turn me into your own personal toy! No amount of money would ever be sufficient enough to compensate for destroying a person's dignity. Mott, you and your ilk are the reason why commoners like I detest nobles. You don't care about commoners or how they feel at being oppressed by people like you. You think only of yourselves." Siesta turned to me. "Do what you want with him."

I nodded. "Turn around Siesta, and plug your ears. This might get messy."

Siesta shook her head. "I'm going to see my choices through to the end."

"Alright," I said as wind spirits gathered around me to form a dozen air blades. "Be warned, then. This might get gruesome."

And for an hour after that, Mott's screams rent the air, until they fell silent forevermore.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Are you an idiot!?" Louise raged at me. "You _killed_ Lord Mott!?"

"That man deserved it!" Siesta protested in my defense. "Kazuma did nothing wrong!"

"Be silent, maid!" Louise hissed at Siesta. "This does not concern you!"

Being faced with Louise's vitriol, Siesta shrank back slightly and his behind my back.

I looked past Louise for a moment to see Kirche and Tabitha who were riding near the front of Sylphid, Tabitha's dragon familiar. After I had left the Academy, Louise had frantically sought Tabitha to use her dragon to catch up to me. However, because Louise and the other two had never actually been to the late Mott's estate, none of them knew how to get there. As such, it wasn't until I was flying with Siesta back to the Academy that they actually found me. Or, more correctly, I found them.

"What do you two think?" I asked.

Tabitha shrugged as she flipped a page in a book she was reading. Kirche, on the other hand, replied with more vigor.

"Oh, darling!" Kirche said in an almost melodramatic way. "To think that you would embark on a rescue mission by yourself in order to rescue a woman! Of course, if I were to suffer a similar fate, I know you would rescue me as well! And then we would kiss and..." I stopped listening as Kirche broke off into a raunchy fantasy that was surprisingly well thought out in plot and character development, even if it was totally unrealistic.

Behind me, I could practically feel Siesta heat up by several tens of degrees as she listened to Kirche. Similarly, Louise seemed to turn several shades of red. Not even Tabitha was spared that fate, her cheeks reddening slightly as she helplessly listened to her friend's tale.

"In any case!" Louise interrupted loudly. Kirche looked at Louise and pouted at being interrupted at what she called 'the best part.' "The point is, Kazuma, that there were other ways of doing this if you really wanted to. We could have sent a letter to the palace or offered Mott money to hire the maid back from him."

"Or I could – and did – kill a sick bastard who likes taking advantage of those weaker than him in disgusting ways." I nodded in approval at that course of action. "Yeah, I think I like that way better."

"And in doing so you have potentially ruined the reputation of the most prestigious family in Tristain _and_ broke at least five different laws," Louise said scathingly.

"It was worth it," I said simply.

"And then let's not forget the fact that just because you 'rescued' the maid doesn't mean that she'll be rehired by the Academy," Louise said. "If anything, she'll likely never find work again, what, considering her involvement in Mott's murder."

"Even so," Siesta piped up, determination plain in her voice, "it was still worth it. At least this way I still have my dignity as a human being."

"Besides. She'll be hired," I said. "I'll hire her."

"Eh?" everyone, save Tabitha, said in surprise.

"Did you forget?" I said. "I have 10,000 gold coins. I can easily afford to hire Siesta and cover the associated costs."

"You're really going to do this?" Louise said exasperatedly.

"Only if Siesta wants the job," I said as I glanced over my shoulder to look at Siesta.

"I do!" Siesta said eagerly, enthusiastically, before quickly composing herself. "I mean, I accept the job offer."

"Good," I said. "We can arrange your lodgings and food costs and job duties later."

"Yes, Master Kazuma!" Siesta said happily.

Louise looked at Siesta, then at me, and then scowled before turning back to face the front. She did not like any of what had happened, that was clear, but it seemed that she had accepted what had happened as something that was already done.

"Mother is going to murder me..." Louise muttered so quietly that no one could hear her over the sound of the winds whipping past us. None except me, because those very same winds were carrying her voice to my ears.

"Hey, Kazuma," Siesta whispered into my ear once it became clear that the others couldn't hear us. "I have a question: why did you help me?"

I looked at her. "I had a debt I needed to repay to you."

"A debt?" Siesta frowned. "What debt?"

"You gave me food when I was hungry. It was very kind of you."

Siesta blinked at me. "That's it?"

"Well... Yeah, I guess," I said a little defensively.

Siesta looked at me for a moment and sighed disappointingly, though with a cute smile on her face. "Well, I suppose it's a start..."


	6. Chapter 6 - The Princess

_Author's Notes: _

_Yay, 100 followers!_

**-STORY START-**

When I woke up the next morning, I found myself unable to move and with a pounding headache. Curious, I yawned and slowly blinked my eyes open as I sat up. To my surprise, Siesta was lying in my bed, partially holding onto me like a girl would with a giant teddy bear.

For a brief moment, I struggled to remember what had happened the night before. Let's see... After returning from Mott's estate, we had made sure to greet Marteau and the other servants and tell them what happened. I distinctly remember Marteau crying tears of happiness at Siesta's return and at having heard of Mott's well deserved death. And then an impromptu party with lots and lots of delicious Albionian wine.

Okay, at least that explained the headache. Damn hangovers. But why in the world was Siesta on my bed? I highly doubt we did anything last night considering we're both fully clothed and we're in Louise's room. Speaking of Louise, she wasn't in her bed either.

"Mmm..." Siesta rolled over onto her back and slowly blinked her eyes. She glanced at me with bleary eyes before smiling slightly. "Good morning, Master Kazuma."

"Uhhh..." I slurred as I collapsed back into the bed. God, how much did I drink last night? I had always had a pretty good tolerance for alcohol, so I rarely, if ever, got hangovers. "Don't... You don't need to call me master..."

"Okay, Kazuma," Siesta said cheerfully. All signs of sleepiness had vanished from her face. Was this the power of a maid? To be able to go from being tired and sleepy to being awake and energetic in an instant? How frightening. And enviable.

"Sorry, Siesta," I groaned. "But I can't seem to remember much about last night. What happened? Why were you sleeping in this room?"

"Mou..." Siesta pouted. Even through my sleepy, hangover induced state, I couldn't help but draw parallels to her expression and my younger brother, Ren's, back on Earth. They both tried so hard to look angry, but it just didn't work with how adorable they were. "I guess it can't be helped. I don't think I've ever seen anyone drink as much Albionian wine as you did. You told me to just sleep in this room for the night since you didn't have time to talk to the headmaster about me getting my own room."

"Oh right," I said vaguely as the memories of that moment began to surface in my mind. "And Louise just let you sleep here? That's surprising."

"Ah, actually," Siesta fidgeted nervously. "You killed her and threw her out the window."

"Oh. Is that a-... Wait. I DID WHAT!?" I blurted out in shock and bolted upright, a look of horror spreading on my face. I did not much like the pink-haired girl, but that didn't mean I wanted to kill her. In fact, if I were to choose, it would be just the opposite. I had meant to protect her.

I had never considered myself to be a bad drunk. In fact, I tended to remain in control of my body whenever I drank. But I did drink a lot more than I ever had before last night, if the level of the hangover was any indicator. Was it truly possible that something inside me snapped from all that alcohol and made me do that?

Siesta began giggling and I looked at her with the same look of horror. And then I understood.

"Ha. Ha." I said in a flat tone. "Very funny. What happened really?"

"I'm sorry, I couldn't help it," Siesta chuckled softly. "Miss Valliere decided to allow me to sleep here after you asked her."

"Where is she now?"

"I'm not sure," Siesta admitted. "She woke up around around four hours ago to eat breakfast and to train."

"What time is it now?" I asked as I pinched the bridge of my nose in a futile effort to relieve the headache.

"I think it's about one o'clock," Siesta answered. "And since this is my first day as your maid, is there anything you would like me to do for you?"

"Something to help this hangover would be wonderful," I muttered. "And maybe something to eat too."

"Understood," Siesta said as she climbed out of bed. "Please wait here for a moment then. I'll be right back."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Mmm... This is good," I said as I sipped some hot tea that was doing an absolutely marvelous job in taking away the edge to my hangover. In front of me, set on a table, was a tray of food; a bowl of soup, three loaves of bread, a chunk of soft cheese. A simple and light meal, but absolutely delicious and filling.

"I'm glad you like it," Siesta said as she stood dutifully by the table. "I made it myself."

"Did you?" I said before biting into the cheese. "Good job."

Siesta smiled and nodded in acknowledgment of the compliment.

"By the way," I said, "we should discuss your job."

"Of course," Siesta agreed and nodded.

"So what skills do you have?" I asked. "I need to know what you can do before I give you any jobs."

"Well, I'm a skilled cleaner and a passable cook," Siesta said. "And I am also knowledgeable about wines because my dream is to one day open my own winery."

I glanced at Siesta, then at the food I was eating. Passable cook my ass. She was a damn good one. Admittedly, she was not as good as Marteau, but then again, I haven't met a single person in all the worlds that was as good as him.

"I see," I said as I drank another sip of tea. "That's good. Then let's talk about your salary."

"You can pay me whatever you think is fair," Siesta smiled.

"Oh, really?" I said as I stood up and took out the bag of gold from beneath my bed. As I opened it, Siesta's eyes went wide at my wealth. "You said before that 100 gold coins was about two or three years worth of salary for you, right?" Siesta nodded as she continued gawking at the pile of gold. I took out a handful of gold coins and placed it in front of her. "Then here. Ten gold coins every month will be your salary for now."

"T-t-ten gold coins?" Siesta said, still in shock at the bag of gold. It occurred to me that Siesta had likely never seen this much gold in a single sitting before. Or rather, she had never seen this much gold in her entire lifetime. "That's too much, Kazuma!"

"I have a little over 10,000 gold coins in here," I said casually. "That means I can pay you 1,000 times. But before I come anywhere close to that number, I'll probably have gotten even more money. So don't worry about it."

Siesta's jaw was hanging about as she slowly nodded and took her salary with a slow, deliberate motion, holding it with almost reverent awe. "How did you get so much money, Kazuma?"

"The reward for capturing Foquet," I said as I tied up the bag and pushed it beneath my bed again. "The others got recognition, but all I wanted was the money."

"So you _were_ the one who captured Foquet!" Siesta said triumphantly. "All the other servants had already been suspecting as much. We thought that you were the one who did all the work and the nobles simply stole credit for it."

I shrugged, but didn't answer. Instead, I simply finished off the last of the meal Siesta had placed before me. Siesta, however, seemed to take this as an admission to the truth, and she smiled more broadly, and looked at me with admiration.

"Thanks for the meal," I said. "If you would just put this away for me?"

"Of course," Siesta said.

"Thanks," I said. "After you're done with that, you can do what you want for a while. I'm going to go the library."

"I didn't realize you read?" Siesta said curiously.

"On occasions I do," I said with a shrug. "It's not the highest thing on my priority list, but it's a decent way of killing time."

"In that case, I have several books I think you'll be interested in," Siesta said with a sudden and strange enthusiasm.

"Maybe next time," I said evasively. My instincts were warning me not to take Siesta up on this offer. "Anyway, I'll see you later."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

When I entered the library, it was almost devoid of all life, save for the librarian, an old, thin woman with a beak-like nose, and a few students. Amongst them, I noticed that Tabitha was there too, quietly reading as always. Stacked up in a tower in front of her was about seven books.

I went over to a nearby shelf and picked out a random book. Afterward, I walked over to where Tabitha was and sat myself at her table across from her. Tabitha made no movements indicating any acknowledgment of my presence. Even so, it almost felt as if she was keeping a careful eye on me.

I flipped the book open to the first page. Almost immediately thereafter, I closed it again and sighed silently.

"Not reading?" Tabitha asked softly.

I looked up to see Tabitha watching me with expressionless eyes.

"I can't," I shrugged. I had assumed that since I and the Halkeginians could understand each other, that our language would naturally be the same. Unfortunately, however, it appeared that was not the case as I could not read a single word of anything that was written in the book. I wonder if the reason why we could understand each other was because of the spell that summoned me here in the first place?

Tabitha nodded and grabbed the topmost book of the book tower and handed it to me. "Pictures."

I took the book and opened it. Like Tabitha had said, there were pictures. Lots of them. It seemed to me like it was some kind of children's story book, judging by the way that every page had a picture and only a few lines of words at most.

Since I had nothing else to do, I decided to read it and try to piece together the plot the best I could. It seemed that the story was about a swordsman who had come to a village, whereupon the villagers had begged him for something. That something turned out to be a request to rescue a girl from a dragon.

In the ensuing fight, the dragon struck down the swordsman a dozen times over, but each time the swordsman stood back up and attacked again. Finally, in a classic case of deus ex machina, the swordsman's sword began glowing and allowed him to pierce the dragon's throat, where previously the sword had been unable to put a single scratch on the creature.

Once he had returned the girl to the villagers, they had offered him rewards of gold and treasure, but he refused and simply rode off towards the setting sun in the horizon.

I closed the book and sighed. What a stupid hero. Why _wouldn't_ he accept the reward? He had done something he had no obligation to do for a bunch of people he did not even know purely because they asked it of him. It was only natural to be compensated for risking your life for such a request.

I handed the book back to Tabitha. She took it and replaced the book back onto the top of the tower without ever looking up from her own reading. The library doors opened quietly and I glanced over my shoulder to see Kirche enter.

"Ara?" Kirche said as she came up to us. "Darling? What are you doing here? I thought you would be preparing for the Evaluation Fair."

"What's the Evaluation Fair?" I asked curiously.

"It's a contest in which the students have their familiars perform in order to impress the audience," Kirche supplied. "Given that a familiar is indicative of a mage's power, it is quite an important event, especially to the government officials who come looking to recruit students after they graduate. Oh, and I heard that Princess Henrietta is coming herself to hand out the prize this year. Valliere hasn't told you anything?"

"No, actually," I frowned. "She hasn't. We haven't really been talking much since the Mott incident yesterday."

"Huh," Kirche frowned. "That's weird. But then I guess that means you can come cheer for me, darling!"

"I guess so," I said. "Uh, out of curiosity, what is the prize?"

"A trophy and being allowed to kiss the princess's hand," Kirche said. "Though only the boys really care about that second part."

What a lackluster prize.

As if she read my mind, Kirche captured me in a hug that buried my arm in her breasts and said, "It's almost disappointing, isn't it? That's why you should give me a prize if I win, darling!"

"Oh? What kind of prize did you have in mind?" I said playfully.

"I'm sure you'll think of something," Kirche purred.

"Ahem."

Both Kirche and I turned to see Siesta standing there. Though she was smiling, it was clear to see that it was anything but friendly. In fact, it was the type of smile used when attempting to conceal an annoyed anger.

"Master Kazuma," Siesta said tersely. "Miss Valliere is requesting that you return to her room."

"Uh... Right," I said. For some reason, the sheer amount of silent anger that was exuding from Siesta like water leaking from a crumbling dam was enough to scare even me. "I'll just get going then. See you later Kirche, Tabitha."

"Don't forget the promise, darling." Kirche winked at me. Tabitha, on the other hand, made no acknowledgment, but for a slight nod.

I quickly turned and caught up to Siesta who was already leaving the library. "Are you okay?" I asked tentatively as we left the library.

"Of course I'm okay," Siesta huffed. "Why wouldn't I be okay? It's Master Kazuma's decision if he wants to marry that noblewoman."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said in surprise. "Let's back up a bit. I am _not_ looking to marry her. And quite honestly, I don't think Kirche wants to either."

"As you say, Master Kazuma," Siesta pouted.

I scratched my head and sighed exasperatedly. I didn't really want to, but I suppose _that _way would be the fastest method of quelling Siesta's anger. I put a hand on Siesta's shoulder firmly and turned her around to face me.

"Were you jealous, Siesta?" I said in a low voice as I cupped her chin with my fingers. "Of Kirche?"

"M-m-master Kazuma?" Siesta stuttered in surprise as her face flushed red.

"Not Master Kazuma," I chided gently. "Didn't we agree before? It's just Kazuma."

"Master Kazuma," Siesta said as she pulled away from me. "I think this is highly inappropriate since you already have a lover, Miss Zerbst."

"Ah, so you _are_ jealous," I teased.

"I am not!" Siesta pouted again. "It is simply a matter of propriety."

"Is that so? But you know, she and I aren't actually lovers, which is why it's okay for me to do this." I leaned in and placed a kiss on Siesta's forehead.

The maid, whose face was already flushed red, turned several shades redder as she let out a surprised, wordless sound. "K-Kazuma?" she said as she looked up at me with her chestnut colored, doe-like eyes.

"Let's go, Siesta," I said briskly. "Louise is waiting, isn't she?"

"Y-yes," Siesta nodded dazedly. "Right. We should get going then."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"There you are," Louise said as we entered the room. "Hm? What's wrong with the maid?"

I glanced aside at Siesta and noted that her face was still a bright red.

"It's nothing," I said. "What did you call me for?"

"Today's the day of the Evaluation Fair," Louise said briskly. "Do you know about it?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "Kirche told me. It's a contest to show off the familiars, right?"

One of Louise's eyebrows twitched at my mentioning of Kirche. Or rather, the implication that I had been with Kirche until I was called here.

"In any case," Louise said, "we're not going to compete. Just go up there when it's your turn, introduce yourself, and walk off stage."

That was highly unusual out of Louise. I had thought – expected – that she would have told me to go out there and win. Quite frankly, I could probably easily win if I demonstrated my powers. I didn't particularly mind listening to this set of orders since it would make it easier for me, but still... Very unusual.

"That's fine," I said, "but why?"

"Don't you remember what Osmond said? The fact that you can use Ancient Magic should remain a secret," Louise said.

"True," I said. "I just didn't expect you would agree with him."

Suddenly, four knocks rapped on the door in an unusual pattern.

_Knock! Knock!... Knock!... Knock!_

Louise's eyes went wide and raced to the door to open it, nearly knocking me and Siesta over in her dash to do so. When the door opened, standing there was a mysterious cloaked figure. A thief? An assassin? I narrowed my eyes and silently prepared to launch an air blade at a moment's notice.

"Louise Francoise," the stranger said in a feminine voice. "It has truly been a long time."

"Who are you?" Louise narrowed her eyes. Clearly, this person had not been the one she was expecting.

"Has it truly been so long that you would forget about me?" the stranger said sadly. She stepped into the room and gently closed the door behind her, before throwing back the hood of her cloak to reveal shoulder length brown hair and a face with delicate, refined features.

"Princess Henrietta!" Louise looked shocked for just a moment before immediately falling to one knee to bow. "Forgive me. I did not recognize you underneath that cloak."

"You know the princess, Louise?" I asked curiously.

"When we were young," Louise said, never raising her head, "I had the honor of being her playmate."

"Louise," Henrietta said sadly, "can you not simply say we were childhood friends? Were we not – are we not – best friends? If you were to renounce your friendship with me, I fear I would no longer find joy in this life anymore."

Louise remained unmoving for a moment before saying, "The marriage with the Germanians?"

"That's one cause, yes," Henrietta said. "I am to go to Germania after the Evaluation Fair in order to do the final negotiations for the marriage and alliance, but I arrived here in secret and earlier than officially planned just to see you, my dear friend. So please, rise."

Slowly, Louise rose to her feet and looked at Henrietta. "Thank you and congratulations, Princess," Louise said stiffly. It was evident for all to see that she did not truly mean it. "As your friend, I am happy for you."

"I thank you, Louise Francoise, but there is something I want to speak to you about. It's a matter of the utmost importance and secrecy." Henrietta said gravely. She glanced at Siesta briefly.

Taking the hint, Siesta bowed respectfully and quickly escaped the room. I turned to follow her.

"Ah, Mister Familiar, please stay," Henrietta said suddenly. I stopped and turned around, raising an eyebrow. "A familiar and a mage are as one. What I say to Louise, it is perfectly acceptable for you to listen to as well."

I nodded and closed the door and leaned back against a wall, listening in carefully.

"Louise," Henrietta said grimly. "What I am about to ask of you is very dangerous and requires the utmost secrecy. As such, if you deem it too dangerous to your life, I beg you to simply refuse."

"Nonsense, Princess!" Louise declared. "I am your friend and loyal servant. Simply command, and I shall go."

"Such loyalty!" Henrietta said gratefully. "Ah, if only I had more subjects such as you. Subjects I could trust. Then, here is my request. As you know, I will be marrying the king of Germania," Louise made a disgusted expression, "in the near future. But there is a... problem."

"Problem?" Louise asked. "What problem?"

"It's... a letter," Henrietta said quietly. "One I gave to Prince Wales of Albion many moons ago. As you know, Reconquista is on the verge of victory. If they find that letter, they'll use it to destroy the marriage and make Tristain vulnerable to an invasion. You _must_ find that letter."

"I will accept this mission," Louise said. "And I will succeed."

"Louise, my friend, my dearest friend," Henrietta said. "Once more, I beg you. If you accept this because you feel that you must obey me, I ask that you refuse here and now."

"We will succeed, Princess," Louise said. She hesitated a moment, before continuing. "But before that, there is something else I must confess to you as well."

"It sounds serious," Henrietta said with concern. "What is it?"

"Your Highness, you know about Lord Mott, correct?" Louise said.

"Louise!" I hissed.

"No, Kazuma!" Louise hissed back as she shot daggers from her eyes at me. "I will hide nothing from the princess, and she must know about this."

"Louise?" Henrietta frowned. "What are you talking about? Does it have something to do with Lord Mott's recent murder?"

"Yes, Your Highness," Louise said. "The truth is, it was my fault. My familiar invaded Lord Mott's home and murdered him."

Dammit, Louise. If you just hadn't said anything, no one ever would have known it was me.

Henrietta looked at Louise, then at me. "I see. So you're the one who did... _that_ to him." Henrietta's face turned slightly green. I couldn't blame her. After what I had done to Mott, even Siesta had been forced to look away in horror and disgust, and she had hated Mott the most out of anyone.

"Yes I am," I admitted. "I killed Mott."

"You realize that you've just admitted to committing a crime deserving of either life in prison or execution," Henrietta said without rancor.

"You're welcome to try," I said with a small smile.

"He is my familiar, and a familiar's actions are his master's responsibility" Louise said quickly in a firm, determined voice. "All blame lies with me, Your Highness. Please punish just me."

Henrietta considered Louise for a moment with an expressionless gaze. At the same time, I also stared at Louise. I couldn't help but raise my recently lowered opinion of Louise. It was touching that she would try and take the blame for my actions.

Henrietta turned back to me and said, "And why did you decide to take such action?"

"I feel that it is important to note that he had used unfair laws to legally kidnap an innocent girl and force her into being his personal sex slave," I said. "And given the same situation, I would kill him again."

For a moment, Henrietta looked at me with an appraising gaze. At the same time, I studied her as well. If she tried to imprison or execute either me or Louise, then I would have to kill her too. However, randomly, she started laughing merrily instead.

"Princess...?" Louise looked at her friend confusedly.

"Ha... Forgive me, Louise," Henrietta said. "Unfair laws indeed. I had long since suspected that nobles would one day suffer for abusing commoners with such unjust laws. It appears that Mott had the distinction of being the first to receive retribution."

"Princess?" Louise said with consternation. "Shouldn't you be more upset? What we've committed is a crime!"

"Why?" Henrietta blinked at her friend in surprise. "Mott was a disgusting man. Have you never heard of what he's done? The girl that your familiar – Kazuma, was it? - rescued was not the first and would not have been the last. He's done unspeakable things to nearly a dozen other young commoner girls, but has always escaped justice because of his status. And besides, a crime is only truly a crime when bad things are done to good people."

"And yet, the laws that protect scum like him remain in place," I pointed out.

"For now, perhaps," Henrietta agreed. "Once I become queen, however, that will change. It must change."

I smiled and nodded approvingly at the princess. It appeared that this woman here was one of good morals and would make a fine, just leader. It would be people like her that would change the opinions of the commoners about nobles for the better.

"But, Princess," Louise said. "A commoner killing a noble is still a heinous offense!"

"Louise, my friend," Henrietta shook her head with an amused smile. "That is exactly the type of attitude that engenders hate from the commoners. Do not mistake my words; murder is always a very serious crime. But consider this: If a commoner kills a noble, they are punished with excruciating torture and death. If a noble kills a commoner, he _might_ be reprimanded with words, but will otherwise be let free."

"But that's because..." Louise began to say.

"Because we nobles are Brimir's chosen people?" Henrietta finished shrewdly. Louise nodded. "That is an insufficient excuse. Justice is blind, Louise. Nobles, commoners, justice makes no distinction between the two. And I doubt that Founder Brimir would think it right to allow crimes such as kidnapping and rape to go unpunished."

"That's true, but still," Louise said slowly, almost hesitantly, "condoning the murder of nobles by commoners sets a bad precedent."

"True," Henrietta acquiesced. "But condoning the abuse nobles dole out to commoners is even worse. And one day, the anger of the commoners will reach a point where they will rise up against us nobles and destroy us."

"Princess!" Louise looked shocked at the very thought. "Commoners defeating nobles is impossible!"

"Why?" Henrietta said with plain surprise. "Your familiar proved it otherwise, did he not?"

"But that's because... well..." Louise squirmed as she struggled to answer.

"Because he's from another world? Or because he can use Ancient Magic?" Henrietta finished for Louise once more. This time, both Louise and I looked at Henrietta in surprise. "I met with Osmond before I came here. He explained to me about everything." Henrietta looked at me. "I am curious, however. How is it that you can use Ancient Magic?"

I scratched my head. So much for keeping this a secret, Osmond. "Technically, it's called fuujutsu," I said, "and it means 'Wind Techniques.' There is also enjutsu, suijutsu, and chijutsu; fire, water, and earth techniques. A lot of people who know of the supernatural can use one of those four in my world. I don't actually know what Ancient Magic is really like, so I can't comment on similarities and differences between the two."

"Fascinating," Henrietta said and nodded once. She turned back to Louise. "But you know, Louise, even if the commoners don't have skills similar to Kazuma, they can still one day overthrow nobles."

"How could that even be possible?" Louise said incredulously. "It's a known fact that a single skilled mage is as strong as a hundred commoners."

"And two hundred years ago, that ratio used to be one mage being stronger than five hundred commoners," Henrietta said. "One hundred years ago, that number fell to three hundred commoners. And in this century, it's down to one hundred. Next century," Henrietta shrugged, "who knows how low that ratio will fall? Do you know why that is the case, Louise?"

"Because technology marches on," I answered for her. I was truly amused at how Henrietta was completely ripping apart everything Louise had believed prior to this day, to this moment. "Whereas magic stagnates. There isn't much room to truly innovate or make progress with magic. But science and technology keeps on progressing, improving. It keeps evolving."

"Just so," Henrietta agreed. "Long ago, commoners were stuck using primitive weapons, such as bows and swords and clubs. In that time, the power of magic did not simply reign supreme. It was absolutely godlike. But then commoners invented weapons such as cannons and firearms. With it, they were able to stand up to mages, if with limited success. And then they improved it. And they keep on improving it. Sooner or later, they'll progress to the point where magic will cease to become the absolute power that it is. You've seen that weapon from Kazuma's world... what did Osmond call it?... that 'rocket launcher' in action. A mundane weapon, yet so advanced that we cannot even begin to comprehend it. Can you truly say that what I claim is not true?"

Louise seemed to ponder this for a moment, but with a look of frustration on her face. Her pride as a noble was strong, and it seemed difficult for her to admit that one day commoners could become stronger than nobles.

"One last thing before I leave," Henrietta said. "Are you planning on competing seriously in the Evaluation Fair?"

"No," Louise answered. "I thought it would be best to keep Kazuma's magic a secret, like the headmaster suggested."

Henrietta nodded approvingly. "That's good. Then, I'll return after the Fair is over to discuss the specifics of the mission."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

After the Evaluation Fair (which Tabitha won) was over, Louise and I returned to her room and waited. After twenty minutes, four knocks rapped on the door like before.

_Knock! Knock!... Knock!... Knock!_

I quickly went over and opened the door, allowing the cloaked Henrietta to come in, before closing it.

"Alright, here are the details of the mission," Henrietta said without preamble as she took off her cloak. "You will be accompanied by Viscount Wardes, the Captain of the Griffin Knights, and take a ship from La Rochelle and infiltrate Albion. From there, you'll need to make your way to Londinium and gain audience with Prince Wales. Once you do, tell him in secret that you need the letter I gave him." Henrietta slipped off from her finger a ring with an exquisitely beautiful, sparkling blue gem set upon it. "Show him this as proof that your word is true."

The door suddenly flung open, and all three of us whirled around to see the one who stumbled in: Guiche.

"Princess! Please allow me to go on that mission as well!" Guiche said as he quickly, if clumsily, dropped to one knee and bowed.

I cursed myself for not thinking to set up a kekkai to ensure that no eavesdropper could listen in. How foolish of me.

"Guiche!" Louise said angrily. "How dare you eavesdrop on us!"

"Guiche? As in the youngest son of the Gramont family?" Henrietta said.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Guiche said enthusiastically.

"Then I would of course welcome your aid in this matter, so long as you ensure this all remains of the utmost secrecy," Henrietta said smoothly.

Oh, she was good. If Henrietta simply refused to allow Guiche to come, it was highly possible, likely even, that he would leak information about this secret mission, either purposefully or accidentally. On the other hand, she couldn't simply execute or imprison him either without just cause. In the end, the best method to keep this a secret was to let him come with us, in which case the only people he could leak the information to were those who were on the same exact mission.

"Yes, Your Highness!" Guiche said eagerly.

"As for your reward." Henrietta held out one hand in front of Guiche, and he took it with one of his own and placed a kiss on her knuckles with restrained excitement. She turned to me and held out her hand in the same fashion.

"I don't bow," I said as I eyed her hand. "And neither do I make shows of subservience. Though if you truly want to reward me, a bag of gold on my return will be sufficient."

At that, Henrietta's eyebrows both raised in surprise. Behind her, Louise palmed her face.

"Forgive him, Princess," Louise said hastily. "My familiar is headstrong... and greedy."

"But honest," Henrietta said with a smile as she dropped her hand back to her side. "I can appreciate that. Very well. Will 500 gold coins prove sufficient?"

"700," I said.

"550," Henrietta counter-offered.

"600," I said.

"I accept," Henrietta said. Once more she held out her hand to me. However, this time it was with the palm to the side, a gesture for a handshake made to seal the agreement.

I took the hand and shook it. "Deal."


	7. Chapter 7 - Albion

I yawned and stretched tiredly as I leaned against the walls surrounding the Academy's grounds. Not too far from me was Louise and Guiche, the former looking nervous and the latter excited, as well as two horses. We were standing out by the entrance into the Academy grounds waiting for our escort, Viscount Wardes. And though I could understand the wisdom in it, I still found the idea of waking up and leaving at 6am far too early for my tastes.

"Is he here yet?" Guiche asked Louise eagerly.

"It doesn't appear so, Guiche," Louise said tersely. "Why are you even here anyway? After how thoroughly Kazuma beat you, I thought you would have been too afraid to go near him."

Guiche glanced over his shoulder at me. I smiled and waved in a manner that said silently, 'If you piss me off, I'm going to kill you.' Guiche gulped and then turned back to Louise.

"As if I could pass up on an opportunity to both serve the princess and to meet the legendary Viscount Wardes," Guiche declared.

Upon seeing Louise tense slightly at the name 'Wardes,' I became curious as to who exactly this person was.

"By the way," Guiche continued, "there's something I'd like to ask, Louise."

"What is it?" Louise said.

"It's about my familiar," Guiche said. "I'd like to bring her along."

"Your familiar?" Louise arched an eyebrow. "Where is it?"

Guiche tapped his foot on the ground. Suddenly, the earth caved inward as dirt was flung out at the same time. From the hole, the head of a giant, brown mole peeked out and let out a chuffing sound.

"Verdandi! Have you had a good meal of earthworms?" Guiche practically swooned as he dropped down to hug the giant mole and rub his cheek against its large head. In response, the mole closed its eyes and let out a pleased noise. And in response to that, both Louise and I rolled our eyes and watched the strange sight.

"You know," Louise said after a minute, "it'll be difficult taking a giant mole with us to Albion. And I can't see it being of much use. Leave it here."

"Ah, Verdandi!" Guiche cried out as the mole escaped his embrace and rushed towards Louise.

Louise was able to let out a single cry of surprise before the mole bowled her over and began sniffing and probing her body in an admittedly awkward, but amusing way.

"Hey!" Louise cried out. "What's the big idea?"

"It's probably because you have some kind of jewel on you," Guiche said. "Verdandi has a very sensitive nose for jewelery."

"Get this off me! Kazuma! Help!"

"Sorry, I don't get paid to do pest control," I said with a grin. After making sure no real harm was being done, I turned to the mole's master and said, "Guiche."

The blond noble practically jumped in surprise when I called him out. Slowly, he turned to face me and said, "Um... Yes?"

"Tell me more about this Wardes guy," I said.

Guiche blinked at me for a moment, before he launched into an explanation with all the enthusiasm of a diehard fanboy sharing his interests with someone else. "Viscount Wardes, also known as Wardes the Lightning, is one of Tristain's premiere square class mages. He specializes in wind magic and is said to be second only to the even more legendary Karin the Heavy Wind, who, according to rumors, is said to have been his mentor. He's also been the captain of the Griffin Knights, one of the three branches of Tristain's strongest mageknights. His accomplishments are many, but his most famous one is probably when he led a daring attack on a crucial Germanian military outpost during a war against Germania eleven years ago, and this was when he was only sixteen years old! Since then, he's-"

"Alright, I get it!" I interrupted. I glanced up at the sky after sensing a disturbance in the natural flow of wind. There, gliding down towards us, was a creature I had only seen before in books of mythology on Earth: a griffin. "Looks like he's here."

A blast of wind heralded the griffin's arrival as it blasted the giant mole right off Louise, sending it flying up into the air by at least ten meters. Silently, I bade the wind spirits to slow its fall. It wasn't its fault that it was simply following its nature after all.

The griffin glided down gracefully and trotted forward a few steps before lowering itself to allow its rider to dismount. He was a tall man with a lean, but strong physique. His hair and goatee was steel-grey in color, but not from age. It appeared that it was simply his normal hair color. With a sharp hawk-like glint in his eyes and cleanly dressed in what I assumed to be the military outfit of a high ranking official, he held a sense of austere presence. It was honestly easy to see why Guiche raved about him so. Even I could tell that this man was strong.

"How dare you do that to my Verdandi!" Guiche said angrily as he clumsily pulled out his rose-wand.

Faster than Guiche could even move, however, the rider had already pulled out a strange looking sword. It had no edge or even a sharp point, and the blade itself was made out of wood. For a moment I wondered just what that weapon was supposed to be, before it hit me. It was a wand shaped like a sword. That was something I hadn't seen on Earth before, though I chalk that up to the fact that wands and staves were generally unnecessary except for in very few, specific circumstances. The majority of the times they were used, it was because of some personality quirk of the mage.

"Peace, young Gramont," the rider said, his swordwand pointed directly at Guiche's throat. "I am not your enemy. My name is Viscount Wardes, and I will be leading this mission."

"V-V-V-Viscount Wardes?" Guiche said in shock. He quickly put his wand away and bowed. "It's an honor to have the chance to work with you, Viscount Wardes!"

"I thank you for the compliment," Wardes said as he too sheathed his swordwand and took off his feathered cap and bowed. "My apologies for attacking your familiar. I simply saw a creature attacking my fiancee and thus moved to defend her."

"Your fiance...?" Guiche looked at Wardes in confusion for a moment. Then his eyes widened as he whirled to stare at Louise. "Louise, you're Viscount Wardes's fiancee!? Amazing!"

Louise mumbled something incoherent as her face flushed a bright red from embarrassment.

"My Louise, my dear Louise," Wardes said as he glided over to the short, pink-haired mage. "It has been too long since we last met."

"Sir Wardes," Louise stammered. "I... Yes, it has."

"As much as I would enjoy talking with you, my love," Wardes said, "I fear that we all realize there are more pressing concerns at hand." He glanced over at me. "Before that, however, I would ask who this man is."

"A victim of a magical kidnapping spell that was designed to force me to become Louise's slave," I answered. "Thankfully, it didn't work completely."

"A kidnapping?" Wardes frowned with consternation. "By my Louise?"

"What he means to say," Louise said hastily, her face even more red than before as she shot daggers from her eyes at me, "is that he's my familiar."

"A human familiar?" Both of Wardes's eyebrows rose in surprise. He shook his head once as if to clear his mind. "Putting that aside for now, however, I will be briefing you once more about our mission. We will ride towards the port city of La Rochelle and reach there by tonight. There, we will rest for two days as we await for our ship and give time for Albion to move into the closest distance to us. Once there, we will fly to a port just south of Londinium and then gain audience with Prince Wales. Any questions? None? Good. Let's go."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Ooh, my waist, my butt, my thighs," Guiche groaned painfully as we walked over to the hotel we would be staying at.

Despite the fact that Guiche had much experience riding horses, it appeared he had never ridden for so long in a single sitting. Without stopping, we had rode straight from the Academy to the port city La Rochelle, which, for some odd reason, was nestled in the mountains. Awaiting us by the hotel's entrance was Louise and Wardes, who, because they rode Wardes's griffin together, had arrived sooner than we had. I had a feeling that when Wardes had estimated the time necessary to ride to La Rochelle, he had measured it by the time it would take for his griffin to fly there, not for horses to ride there. As such, it had fallen to me to surreptitiously use the wind spirits to speed my and Guiche's horses to keep up during the entire trip.

"You're late," Louise said impatiently as she tapped the floor with her foot.

"Flying is faster than riding," I shrugged. "Can you really blame us for not getting here at the same time as you?"

Once we were all inside the hotel and sitting a dinner table and eating food that was not quite at the level of Marteau's or even Siesta's, Wardes began speaking.

"So you are truly my Louise's familiar?" Wardes said as he looked at me levelly.

"Victim," I corrected.

"Yes, he is," Louise sighed exasperatedly.

"How unusual," Wardes murmured softly as he tapped his chin thoughtfully while studying me. "But I expected nothing less from my fiancee."

Louise flushed with humiliation. "Despite his many flaws, Kazuma is a fine familiar."

Wardes blinked at Louise for a moment in confusion. Then he seemed to realize what he had just said and quickly apologized. "Forgive me, my love. I did not mean to sound as if I was insulting you. Quite the opposite. Your human familiar is truly quite remarkable."

"He is?" Louise and Guiche both said at the same time. Though they both knew of my power, Louise more so than Guiche, I could have simply been considered an unusual case. In most circumstances, had she summoned an ordinary human, that person would have been generally considered useless by nearly every noble.

"Of course he is," Wardes said. "Is it not true that he defeated Foquet by using the Staff of Destruction?"

"He did?" Guiche looked at me in surprise.

"I'm surprised you know that," I said casually. "Public knowledge holds that it was Louise, Kirche, and Tabitha who accomplished the deed. The fact that I used the Staff of Destruction should have been kept a secret."

"The headmaster is an old friend of the royal family," Wardes said. "As such, he explained it to the princess, who in turn told me of the matter in order to assuage my doubts of allowing a mere commoner come along with us. She was most adamant in allowing you to come, you know."

"Is that all she told you?" I asked, my lips quirking into a half-smile.

"Yes," Wardes narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Is there anything I do not know that I should?"

"No," I replied easily. "Nothing."

Louise and Guiche glanced at me with questioning eyes, but I paid them no heed. And with how Wardes was keeping his gaze locked on me, studying me, he did not notice them either.

"You realize that if you are hiding anything, that it might prove to be the difference between success and failure in this mission?" Wardes said.

"I understand perfectly," I answered.

Wardes watched me carefully, studying me, as if to probe for any tells in my tone or body language that would give away my lie. I, in turn, maintained a casual, but perfectly composed position. After a minute or two of silence, Wardes finally broke the deadlock and said, "Very well then. We ought to sleep and rest while we can. I've already rented the rooms. Guiche and the familiar will share one room, Louise and I will take the other."

"What?" Louise said in surprise.

"Is something the matter, my love?" Wardes asked.

"It's just... Well, it seems wholly inappropriate to sleep in the same room with a man before marriage," Louise said tentatively.

"Ah, my Louise," Wardes said plaintively. "Surely since we are already engaged that minor detail should not overly concern you."

"I... Well..." Louise struggled to find the words to make a rebuttal, but fell short. Instead, she glanced aside at me pleadingly.

With a sigh, I once more spoke up. "Wardes, what you think should or should not concern Louise has no bearing on what she thinks of the matter. If she feels uncomfortable about sleeping with you tonight, then it is her right to sleep in another room. And, as a man, you should not try to insist otherwise."

Perhaps I should have stated that better, been more polite or something, because in the next instant, Wardes had risen to his feet with eyes flashing cold anger. "And who do you think _you_ are to think that you are able to tell me what to do, familiar?"

"I think that, despite what I feel or said about the matter, I am Louise's familiar," I said calmly, still sitting. "Thus, my primary concern is not to care about who you are or what you think, but to protect Louise. And if she feels uncomfortable about sleeping with you so early, then I will be insisting that she gets her own room."

Louise and Guiche watched the exchange with wide eyes, both fearful and shocked. At some point, Wardes's hand had gone to the hilt of his swordwand. His face was tense and and obviously angry. In response, I simply leaned back in my seat casually and smiled. Finally, he closed his eyes and forcibly changed his angry face into his previous, stoic one, and then sat back down.

"Of course, if Louise feels uncomfortable about the matter, I will allow her to sleep in a separate room," Wardes said calmly. "I will go prepare another one."

"Um, wait, Sir Wardes!" Louise called out as he stood up to leave. He looked at her with a level look. "It's not that I don't love you, Sir Wardes. I simply want to take things slower."

"I understand, my love," Wardes said kindly. "In point of fact, I should commend your familiar for having the courage to stand up to me for his master."

I opened my mouth briefly to correct Wardes that she wasn't my master, but then closed it again when I remembered that I had named myself as Louise's familiar in order to get him to back off, which meant, by implication, yes, I did recognize her as my master. Well, whatever. I could always correct that little lie next time if I needed to.

Once Wardes was safely out of earshot range, Louise whirled around to me and said angrily, "Couldn't you have done that better?"

"You asked me for my help," I said with a shrug. "You never specified how you wanted it to be given."

"I'll have to apologize to him next time," Louise sighed ruefully. "But next time, please try and be a little more polite."

I shrugged again as Wardes came back. "I can try."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

When I woke up the next morning, it was to the sound of someone knocking sharply on the door. I groaned as I considered for a moment whether or not to just seal the door with a kekkai to cut off all sounds, but decided against it. Who knows? Maybe it's important. Thus, I stumbled out of my bed, passing by the blissfully snoring Guiche in his own bed, and opened the door. To my surprise, the one who was standing there was Viscount Wardes.

"Good morning, familiar," Wardes said in a businesslike manner.

"Mornin'," I said in a slurred voice, my body still too tired to care about speaking properly. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I wish to test you, to ensure that you have what it takes to be my fiancee's familiar, her guardian," Wardes said.

"Okay...?" I yawned. "What kind of test?"

"This kind," Wardes said as he patted the hilt of his swordwand.

Instantly, my mind and body snapped awake, alert and ready for anything. "A duel?" I said. "I hardly think that much is necessary."

"Oh, but it is," Wardes said with a small smile. "You see, should I deem you unworthy, I will have you remain here while the Louise and I continue with the mission. We have no need for an unnecessary baggage."

I sighed exasperatedly. "Fine. Let's go."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"So?" I said impatiently. "What are we waiting for?"

"Patience, familiar," Wardes said as we stood about ten paces apart from each other. We were standing in the parade grounds of the hotel, something which it had only because it used to be an important castle long ago, at least, according to Wardes. The grounds themselves had long since been delegated to the role of a landfill, with empty barrels and crates and other miscellaneous debris scattered around the area. Watching the two of us eagerly from a safe distance away was Guiche, who had woken up at some point during my conversation with Wardes and had tagged along to watch his idol in action. Even now, he appeared to be waiting impatiently and excitedly to witness what he no doubt would consider a one-sided duel in favor of Wardes. "There she is. Our witness."

"Sir Wardes," Louise said as she walked over to us. "What is the meaning of this? If you are upset over how my familiar spoke to you last night, then I apologize on his behalf, but that is little reason to duel him."

"I am not angry in the slightest over last night," Wardes assured. "This and that are completely unrelated. I simply wish to ensure that my fiancee's familiar is capable of actually defending her."

"My familiar is perfectly capable of doing that," Louise said. "There is no need for you to duel him."

"I am sorry, my love," Wardes said, "but your safety is my top priority. This one time, I will not simply take your word for it. I must verify it myself."

"But your a square class mage, one of the strongest Tristain has to offer," Louise protested. "A duel with you would hardly prove anything."

"Please allow me to be the judge of that," Wardes said with a courteous bow. "Now, if you would please step back so that we may begin, my love."

Louise bit her lips, but nodded and joined Guiche in the sidelines. I turned to face Wardes properly.

"Did you not prepare a blade or a weapon of some kind?" Wardes asked questioningly as he drew his swordwand.

"I'm not much of a fan of weaponry," I admitted. "I'll be fine without it."

Wardes narrowed his eyes at that, looking insulted by what he must have considered to be a condescending gesture. A commoner attempting to fight a square class mage without a single weapon? Had I been in his shoes, I probably would have been insulted as well. Nevertheless, Wardes took his stance. "Then this shall continue until one side surrenders or has been knocked down. Is that fine with you?"

"It is," I said, not even bothering to take a stance. Instead, I simply stood there casually, clearly showing with my body language that I had no intent of moving from that spot.

"Then let's begin," Wardes announced.

Immediately, Wardes began chanting a spell. But as fast as Wardes was, I was faster. In less than a second, the air around Wardes's head had compressed into three small balls of air and then exploded in sequence like miniature bombs. The first exploded directly beneath his chin, sending his face rocketing upward as if a heavyweight boxer had punched him with an uppercut. Immediately following that, the second block of air exploded by his left temple, and then a third by his right temple.

The end result was that Wardes fell to the ground like a puppet cut from its strings, completely unconscious from having his brain rattled around in such quick succession. Guiche looked horrified at what had just happened to his idol, whereas Louise simply sighed. She looked somewhat surprised, but at the same time, did not. It was the look one had when they knew an outcome was possible, but not as probable as the others.

"Sir Wardes!" Guiche yelped as he rushed over to tend to the unconscious man.

Meanwhile, Louise walked over to me and asked curiously, "So? What did you do?"

"Compressed the air around his head into three tiny balls and then let them explode," I said. "Don't worry, I made sure to hold back. He's just unconscious and hasn't taken any serious damage."

"I knew you were strong," Louise ran a hand through her long pink hair, "but I didn't think you were strong enough to beat Viscount Wardes so easily."

"In a fair fight, it might not have been that easy," I admitted nonchalantly.

"Fair fight?" Louise cocked her head. "What do you mean? This was a duel. It was a fair fight."

"He had no idea I can use magic," I pointed out. Louise mouthed an 'oh' in understanding. "He thought that I was a relatively normal commoner, and he fought based on that premise. Had he known otherwise, he probably would have fought differently. He might have began moving or guarded himself more effectively from the start instead of showing an opening for magical attacks like that."

"I see... So you were a mage," Wardes groaned as he slowly stood back up, supported by Guiche.

"I suppose you could call me that," I acquiesced.

"But you used no wand," Wardes noted as he began to regain his composure. His eyes widened in shock for the first time since I had met him. "Ancient magic? But that's impossible. You don't appear to be an elf. How did you do that?"

"It's something called fuujutsu where I'm from," I said. "It means Wind Techniques in my people's language."

"So you're a wind mage like me then," Wardes mused. "And you mean to say that your people have managed to learn Ancient Magic? How?"

"Who knows?" I said. "I've never even seen this Ancient Magic you Halkeginians always speak of anyway, so I'm not even sure if it's the same as my fuujutsu."

"Hm..." Wardes raised his swordwand again. "Then, let us fight another round." Wardes paused momentarily, before adding with emphasis, "This time without tricks."

"Maybe next time," I said. "Fighting twice was not something I agreed to."

Wardes began to say something, but then stopped and closed it and then sheathed his swordwand. "Very well then. Why don't you and Guiche get breakfast? I need to discuss something with my fiancee before we join you."

"Fine by me," I said. "I'll see you later."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Kazuma," Guiche said as he chewed on a spoonful of mashed potatoes. "I'm curious. If Sir Wardes had known you could use magic from the start, would you have lost?"

I sipped on a cup of water and glanced around the dining hall, unconsciously searching for Louise and the aforementioned Wardes. The only ones in the dining hall, however, were a couple servants and a single person wrapped tightly in a traveler's cloak eating quietly at a table.

"Kazuma?" Guiche said questioningly.

"You know, the entire time we've been at the Academy and up until now, you've avoided talking to me since our duel. Why talk to me now?" I asked without rancor or suspicion, but with genuine curiosity.

"Oh," Guiche scratched the back of his head. "I guess it's because I realized that as long as I don't challenge you to a fight or something, you won't attack me?"

"That's true," I nodded at his assessment. "I don't like pointless fights."

"So would you have lost to Sir Wardes if he knew you could use magic?"

"Who knows?" I said. "I haven't actually seen him fight after all." I glanced around the now empty hall again. "Speaking of Wardes, where is he and Louise?"

As if right on cue, a thunderous sound rent the air as the dining hall's walls suddenly shattered, a gaping hole left in its place. I reacted instantly, creating a wind barrier around Guiche and I just in time for it to deflect a few cannonballs. From the broken down wall, dozens upon dozens of men armed with swords, axes, and all manner of weaponry began streaming in, screaming profanities and raging with bloodthirst.

"Shit!" Guiche swore as he drew his wand. "What's going on?"

Instead of answering, I launched a flurry of air blades at the front line of the invaders. Dozens were cut down immediately, but for each one I killed, two more took its place. Beside me, Guiche summoned seven of his Valkyries outside of our barrier and sent them forward to meet the attackers in a mindless charge. Predictably, they were quickly and easily cut down and eliminated.

With a quick, cursory scan using both my eyes and the senses of the wind spirits, I estimated that there were at least 100 of these men surrounding us, with even more waiting outside. From behind the front lines, a rain of arrow came down on us. I swept my arm across the air, causing the wind to easily scatter and neutralize that attack. At the same time, however, the men brandishing melee weapons had charged toward us from all sides.

"Oh god," Guiche moaned fearfully. "We're going to die to a bunch of bandits!"

"Calm down," I said. "We're not going to die."

I made the wind barrier surrounding Guiche and I into a thin ring, and then expanded it outwards quickly. Like a blade, the ring of air sliced through everything it came in contact with, bisecting men at the waist by the dozens. An atmosphere of trepidation pervaded amongst our attackers, and they stepped away from us hesitantly, as if unsure of what to do next.

Suddenly, I felt something seize my ankles and pull me into the earth. Now underground, with no light and very little wind spirits, I found myself suddenly blinded by darkness.

"Guiche," I said. "Did you do this?"

"No," a female voice said. "I did."

I sucked in a breath sharply as I immediately recognized the voice. "Foquet," I hissed. "Come for revenge?"

"Hardly," Foquet said. "Wardes has taken Louise to the ships and they've already left for Albion. I have a contact waiting for us by the ports with another ship. We can still make it to Newcastle as well."

"You're helping us?" I said in surprise. "Why?"

"No time to explain right now," Foquet said. I felt a hand grab me by my arm. "Hold tight."

The ground beneath us pushed upwards, and for a moment I feared that we were about to be squashed like pancakes. Instead, however, the ground above us split open and allowed for the earth to spit us out. When it did, I found that we weren't in the dining hall anymore, but rather by the docks. A part of me couldn't help but note how boring traveling underground with earth magic was. I hadn't even felt us move.

"Let's go," Foquet said urgently as she began running down the docks and towards the one remaining ship that remained anchored there.

"Well I'll be damned. So that's why the port was in the mountains," I muttered to myself as I ran to follow Foquet to the flying ship that remained waiting for us there.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"So why have you come to help us?" I asked as I looked over the railing of the flying ship to see the earth below passing by quickly. Beside me was Foquet. "I would have thought if you escaped you would be our enemy."

"Normally that would have been the case," Foquet admitted. "But I didn't escape. I was freed."

"Freed? By whom?" I asked.

"By my new employer: Princess Henrietta," Foquet said. "In return for my service, I was granted a full pardon, a nice salary, and a special position within her new organization of guards: the Musketeer Corps. Considering what the alternative was, I was more than happy to accept the offer."

"The princess never told us that you were here," I noted.

"Of course not," Foquet scoffed. "My job was to keep an eye on Wardes. The princess has been suspicious of him for a while now."

"Why?" I said.

"She didn't tell me all the details," Foquet admitted, "but one thing she did tell me was that it was strange that he would insist so adamantly on going on a mission where secrecy was of the utmost importance, especially when he is so well known by nearly every noble in the continent."

"The princess is an awfully paranoid person if that's all she based her suspicion on," I said. "So? If that was your job, to keep an eye out on Wardes, why did you come back for us instead of going to stop him?"

"I tried," Foquet said through gritted teeth. "He managed to escape though. I could have left sooner than we did, but it's like I told the princess: I'm not a fighter or an assassin. If it comes down to a fight, my best bet would be to bring you along and have you fight him for me, even if that means we're delayed in arriving in Albion."

"Any theories about what Wardes is up to, then?" I asked.

"One," Foquet replied. "It's most likely that he's a traitor, one that's probably working for Reconquista."

"What makes you say that?" I asked.

"It's just the most likely explanation," Foquet said. "If he's so insistent on going on this mission, then it's not because he wants to see the Valliere girl. He can see her whenever he wants since they're supposed to be engaged. It's probably because he wants to go to Albion no matter what. But there are only three factions that would actually want to go there in a time like this: the Albion Royalists, those loyal to the crown, mercenaries, and members of Reconquista. It's unlikely that he's a mercenary, given that that would mean throwing away his title, his status, and everything he has as a wealthy and renowned noble. Yet, he's probably not a Royalist either. He has no ties or relations to Albion whatsoever. No friends, no family, no past indication of sympathizing with the Royalists, nothing. That leaves Reconquista: a new organization based around certain ideals. Ideals which Wardes may or may not commiserate with."

"That's a great deal of conjecturing," I pointed out.

Foquet shrugged. "It's the princess's theory. But even if it's just conjectures, it's enough cause to be suspicious about him."

"True," I said. "But if that's the case, then his objective is clear: it's the same as ours. He wants the object we are supposed to retrieve from Wales, but he's planning on handing it over to Reconquista instead of to Henrietta." I gripped the railing tightly. "And he's probably going to kill Wales and take Louise while he's at it."

"Probably," Foquet agreed.

"We need to hurry then," I said. "Is there a way to make this boat move faster?"

"This is the fastest it will go," Foquet said. "We don't have enough windstones to go any faster. But so long as Wardes doesn't know about the secret entrance into Newcastle, we should be able to beat him to it."

"What are windstones?" I asked.

"You've never heard of them?" Foquet looked at me in surprise. "Elemental stones are basically naturally formed crystallized spirit magic, and windstones are crystallized wind spirit magic. Useful stuff, windstones. It's what keeps this ship flying."

Crystallized spirit magic? I narrowed my eyes. "Show me them."

Foquet arched an eyebrow, but nodded and led me down beneath the ship's deck and to what appeared to be the magical equivalent of the engine room. The room had only a large furnace-like structure. Within it was a large pile of transparent stones that were vibrating fast enough to create an annoying buzzing sound.

With a flick of her wand, Foquet levitated one of the stones out of the furnace and dropped it in my hands. I carefully looked it over. Just like Foquet said, this was merely a crystallization of wind spirits. I closed my eyes and concentrated. If that was all these windstones were, then it only made sense that I should be able to create them as well.

"What are you doing?" Foquet asked even as I gathered the wind spirits into my free hand.

"Shh," I said tersely.

Because the windstones contained wind spirits, I was able to spread my consciousness through the windstones like I could with normal air. By doing that, I was able to determine how these things were formed and how they functioned. From what I could tell, they were essentially like magical coal. Simply speaking, over many years, the wind spirits that naturally become trapped underground are slowly compressed by the surrounding earth spirits until they are forced to turn into a solid substance: windstones. Then, by agitating the windstones to release the trapped wind spirits, it induces flight in whatever it is housed in.

But if that's all it took to form them, then I simply needed to recreate the compressing portion of the cycle. While it didn't sound easy, it wasn't necessarily impossible either.

"Holy shit," Foquet breathed.

In my hand was now a second transparent crystal. Another windstone.

"You just _made_ a windstone!" Foquet said in an astonished voice. "I didn't even know that was possible!"

"Yeah, well, let me tell you something," I panted lightly. "It's pretty damn difficult. I'm going to make more now, so go tell the captain to be ready to arrive at our destination quicker than planned."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

It turned out that the secret entrance Foquet had spoke of had been a giant hole big enough to fit entire ships directly beneath the floating continent of Albion (something Matilda explained was only possible because of the large amounts of windstone within Albion's earth).

"Halt!" a guardsman commanded as our ship flew up the secret entrance and to its hidden dock. "Name yourselves!"

I glanced aside at Foquet and Guiche and motioned for them to let me speak.

"We are ambassadors from Tristain," I declared. "We seek audience with Prince Wales of Albion."

The guard muttered something to a fellow guardsman before looking back at us and saying, "We have already received the ambassadors from Tristain, Viscount Wardes and Lady Valliere. Name yourselves truly!"

So much for getting here before them.

"We have reason to believe that Viscount Wardes is actually a traitor working for Reconquista," I explained. Guiche turned to me sharply and began to say something before Foquet quickly shut him up with a glare. "And we further have reason to believe he intends to assassinate Prince Wales."

That caused a great deal of alarm between the guards and with Guiche. The two guards began quietly conversing between each other.

"What is this all about, Kazuma?" Guiche demanded. "Why would Sir Wardes be a traitor?"

"It's just a theory," I said. "But a theory worth investigating."

"You would slander Sir Wardes's good name purely out of some hogwash 'theory?'" Guiche was trembling with the anger of a fanboy having his favorite idol insulted. "That's impossible! Sir Wardes is the most honest, loyal, brave, and powerful mage!"

"Let's hope what you say about him is true," I muttered.

The two guards finally looked back towards us. "Come with us. Prince Wales will be presiding over a marriage between Viscount Wardes and Lady Valliere in a few minutes."

"Take us there quickly," I said as we disembarked from the ship.

The first guard nodded and began leading us up a set of stairs carved directly into the stone of the cavern that the hidden dock was situated in. At the top was a plain looking door so dark that it almost blended in with the rocks themselves. But past that, we were shown the true splendor of Newcastle. Rich red carpets, beautiful paintings, crystal chandeliers, and all manner of beautiful things decorated the palace. We quickly passed through the ballroom, where numerous guests were dancing to soft music.

"They're in here," the guard said as he gestured to a set of large white doors.

I pushed the doors open and we strode in. Further down the aisle stood Wardes and Louise, and facing them was a blond man with strong and handsome features. No doubt he was Wales.

"... and do you, the third daughter of the Duke of La Valliere, Louise Francoise le Blanc de La Valliere swear to respect and love this man in the name of the Founder Brimir as your husband?" Wales said.

"I d-"

"Objection!" I shouted loudly and slashed my arm across the air, causing a block of wind to slam against a very surprised Wardes and send him flying off to the side.

"What is the meaning of this?" Wales demanded as he looked at us. He looked at the guard that was accompanying us and addressed him. "Smith! What is going on?"

"Your Highness," Smith bowed. "These people claim to be ambassadors from Tristain and that Sir Wardes is actually a traitor working for Reconquista."

"What?" Wales said as he instantly grabbed his wand and turned at an angle such that he could keep an eye on all of us in the room at the same time.

"They lie, Your Highness," Wardes wheezed as he stood back up from the heavy blow of wind. "The woman is Foquet of the Crumbling Dirt and the two males are her accomplice. Is that not so, my Louise?"

"Yes. It is so," Louise said dreamily.

"She's been drugged and enchanted," Foquet muttered to me.

"How do we free her?" I asked quietly.

Foquet shrugged. "Either with a cure or by letting it run its course. If she's strongly willed enough, she could break it on her own though."

"Matilda?" Wales cocked his head. "Is that you? You're Foquet?"

"Yes it is and yes I am, Wales," Foquet said grimly. "But that is neither here nor now. Wardes is a traitor working for Reconquista. Remain on your guard!"

"Enough of your lies, thief!" Wardes shouted as he whipped out his swordwand and aimed it at us. _"__Thunderbolt!"_

A bolt of lightning screeched its way towards us, but even as Wardes had begun chanting his spell, Foquet had already started her own, raising a stone wall to protect us. The lightning bit deeply into the stone, but had been unable to destroy it.

"_Explosion."_

An explosion suddenly tore apart the stone wall completely, forcing me to raise a wind barrier to protect the four of us from the flying remains of the wall.

"Damn," Foquet swore as she let loose a wave of stone spikes at Wardes, an attack he dodged by simply flying up into the air. "Whatever that bastard used on Valliere must have been really strong."

"Yeah," I agreed as I blocked another lightning bolt with a wall of wind. "Keep an eye on Louise and Wales. Make sure nothing happens to them. I'll deal with Wardes."

But before I could make good on my word, Guiche had run up straight into the middle of the battlefield.

"Sir Wardes!" Guiche cried out. "What is going on? Why are you doing this? I don't understand!"

"Silence, traitor!" Wardes commanded. "How dare you side with a notorious thief such as Foquet and aim to assassinate Prince Wales? Have you sunk so low as to do such evil deeds? I am ashamed of you, son of Gramont."

"I'm not a traitor!" Guiche wailed.

"Silence!" Wardes once more shouted as he hurled a lightning bolt towards Guiche.

I quickly beckoned for the wind spirits to form a strong barrier around Guiche, protecting him at the last second from a lethal spell. Then, the wind forcibly pulled him back towards where I was, and I made him land beside Smith.

"Smith, was it?" I said. "Take the boy and get out of here."

Though he remained confused as to exactly who was the traitor and who was not, Smith obeyed and quickly grabbed Guiche, who seemed to be in some sort of shock at havin been told such things by his idol, and escaped.

"Alright, let's do this, Foquet," I declared as I flew up into the air to engage Wardes. At the same time, Foquet began pressing Louise with her spells carefully, using just enough power to force Louise to defend and keep her attention off of me, but not enough to actually hurt her.

"Last time you won because you took me by surprise," Wardes said. "This time there will be no such accidents. _Ubiquitous Wind!"_

Suddenly, nine clones of Wardes appeared all around me, each aiming their swordwand at me. I glanced around at them cautiously, allowing the wind spirits to feed me back information about these clones.

"Interesting," I said. "These aren't just illusions are they? They're substantial clones of you formed from your magic."

"Indeed," Wardes said. "That is my _Ubiquitous Wind_ spell. It allows me to form clones just as strong as I am with no loss of strength on my part at all. So now die!"

Lightning bolts shot forth from ten different angles, but all aimed straight for me. However, a tornado surrounded me and absorbed the lightning bolts before bursting apart into an innumerable amount of air blades, which shredded each of Wardes's magical clones into nothingness. Wardes himself nearly died, but had been able to create a wind barrier of his own at the last second. Despite that, he had not escaped unscathed. Some of my air blades had managed to shatter his barrier and slice him, though those were mostly superficial wounds.

"I'll admit it," Wardes panted. "You are most likely superior to I in wind magic. I should expect nothing less from Ancient Magic. Nevertheless, I will accomplish at least one goal of my mission."

Wardes dived suddenly like a peregrine falcon, his form blurring from the sheer and sudden speed of his dive. His target: Wales.

"Die, Wales!" Wardes shouted as his swordwand began shining and crackling with lightning. "For Reconquista!"

Wales's eyes went wide even as he brought his own wand up to defend. However, Wardes was too fast and had already cut the distance between them and stabbed Wales.

Or at least, that's what should have happened.

"What the?" Wardes said in shock as he found his swordwand being stopped a few inches away from Wales by a countervailing wind. He glanced up at me with hatred in his eyes. "You! Familiar!"

"You bastard!" Wales roared as he aimed his wand at Wardes.

But before Wales could even let loose his spell, Louise screamed, _"__EXPLOSION!"_

For a moment, I thought Louise was about to finish off Wales. But instead, it was Wardes that was the one screaming in pain as an explosion tore off his arm and ripped into his side. It appeared that Louise had finally managed to break the hold Wardes had had over her. It surprised me that despite the obvious rage that Louise was expressing, she had managed to limit the size of the explosion to avoid injuring Wales and herself as well. Was this the result of her private training?

"Mother..." Wardes uttered before my air blade decapitated him cleanly and his corpse fell to the floor with the sound of fresh meat.

With a sigh of relief, I landed in front of Louise. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"Fine, fine," Louise said wearily. "Just feeling a little nauseous. That damn drug Wardes snuck into my drink made me act however he wanted me to... Thanks for coming to save me. But why is Foquet here?"

"I'm working for Princess Henrietta now," Foquet explained before turning to look at Wales and saying coldly, "Hello, Wales. It has been a while."

"Yes. It has, Matilda," Wales said sadly.

"Tell me, how is your damn pig of a father?" Matilda asked.

"Foquet!" Louise said angrily. "Watch how you speak to royalty!"

"No, no. It's fine, Lady Valliere," Wales said. "My father died in the Battle of Saxe-Gotha three months ago against Reconquista. I suppose it is a fitting for him to die there."

"Indeed," Foquet sneered. "Though it's disappointing I wasn't the one who got to kill him."

"Matilda," Wales said softly. "What my father has done against your family is unforgivable. Thus, I offer my own life in atonement, if that is what you desire."

"Wait!" Louise said. "Why would you need to give up your own life, Prince Wales?"

Wales looked at Foquet, who narrowed her eyes and nodded curtly.

"Many years ago, Matilda here was the daughter of one of the most prominent noble family in the entire country," Wales said. "One day, however, my father sent his men to assassinate every one of them. Fortunately, Matilda at least managed to escape and survive. To this day, however, I know not the reason why he ordered such a heinous act."

"Really, if it wasn't my job, I would have just let you die to Reconquista," Matilda said. "Be grateful to Henrietta, bastard."

Wales closed his eyes and nodded slightly. "I always am." Wales looked at me. "Now then. Who are you to whom I owe my life?"

"I'm Kazuma Yagami," I said.

"I see. Sir Kazuma, Lady Matilda," Wales bowed gratefully at the two of us. "Thank you."

"Prince Wales," Louise said. "I know we've discussed this before, but won't you please reconsider your decision of remaining here? Won't you come back with us to Tristain? To the princess? The rebels already have Newcastle completely surrounded. It's a fight you cannot win!"

"Even so, I shall not flee," Wales said adamantly. "I have a duty to fight and die for my country. I will not abandon my countrymen while they face the rebels alone, and neither will I endanger the country of the one I love by becoming an excuse for Reconquista to invade."

"But-" Louise began to protest.

"Enough," Wales said sternly, silencing Louise. Then he smiled gently. "You are a kind lady, Louise Valliere. I thank you for being Ann's friend." He turned to Matilda. "But for you, my offer still stands. If you wish to kill me out of revenge, then I will not resist you."

Matilda glared at Wales for a moment, and then sighed and shrugged. "You'll be dying soon to Reconquista anyway. There's no point in killing a dead man."

"Thank you," Wales smiled.

"Shut up. I don't want your thanks," Matilda growled.

Wales let out a low chuckle before turning to me. "Sir Kazuma, though I have not had a chance to become truly acquainted with you, my instincts tell me you are a trustworthy man. Might I ask you for a favor as my last request?"

I nodded, prompting him to continue.

"Please watch over Princess Henrietta," Wales said. "She's a strong woman, but she never wanted to be a queen. It was something forced upon her, and sometimes the burden of the crown may become too heavy for her. At those times, please support her the best you can."

"I'll try," I said. Louise turned sharply at me, her eyes having gone wide. No doubt she was amazed that I was not charging money out of Prince Wales for accepting such a request. There was no way she could have known, but I had a policy not to charge money for last requests. Even I had limits as to how far I was willing to go.

"Thank you," Wales said. "Now you need to leave with the remaining civilians. If that traitor Wardes attempted the assassination now, then no doubt the final assault will begin soon. Go now, and return to Tristain."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

It had taken three days for Louise, Foquet, Guiche, and I to return to Tristain. Guiche had gone back to the Academy, obviously shaken at his shattered image of Wardes, his hero. Foquet had gone ahead of us to report to Henrietta before leaving so that the princess, Louise, and I were speaking in private in her study room. It was then that Louise had presented her with the objective of the mission: the love letter she had given to Wales many years ago.

"I see," Henrietta said as she carefully put the letter Louise had retrieved from Wales into her desk drawer. "So Wales refused to seek asylum in Tristain and chose instead to die fighting for his country. I can't say I'm surprised."

"He was a brave man," Louise said softly. "Honorable and true."

Henrietta smiled at Louise and nodded in agreement. "Indeed he was. It's why I love and respect him." She turned to me. "So, Wardes truly was a traitor?"

"Yes," I said. "Had you not sent Foquet, Wardes probably would have succeeded in killing Wales and absconding with Louise."

"Very true. If I hadn't taken precautions, it was quite likely you would have failed in the mission. Which is why I think it's only fair if I lower your payment to 500, no, 400 gold coins, don't you think?" Henrietta said with an innocent smile.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," I said in alarm. "Let's not be crazy here. It's true that Foquet was instrumental in the mission, but my own role can hardly be understated. Besides, whether I did or did not choose to go, you still would have sent Foquet anyway. From what she tells me, you had your own fair share of suspicions about Wardes. So I think it's more than a little unfair to dock my pay for something you were already going to do regardless."

"Ah, but the reason I _only_ sent Foquet was because I was trusting you to not actually require any help," Henrietta said happily. "Had you refused, I simply would have sent others that I trust to ensure the mission went smoothly."

"Who else do you have that could have beaten Wardes?" I demanded.

As if on cue, I heard several sounds of the hammer of guns being cocked directly behind my head. Slowly, I turned around to see three women dressed in dark, surreptitious clothes aiming primitive flintlock pistols at me. Okay, I was seriously shaming my name as a fuujutsushi if I had let these three sneak up on me like that, even if they were extremely skilled. I was becoming far too careless as of late. But disregarding that, I couldn't help but wonder where in the hell they had appeared from.

I quickly glanced over the three women. Though each of these women carried a dangerous aura, it was the center woman that stood out the most. She had short blonde hair, emerald colored eyes, and bore severe burns across one cheek that went all the way down to her neck and underneath her clothes. In her eyes, I could feel a deep well of unyielding determination. The sort of look I had seen in only one other person: my stubborn father, Genma Kannagi.

"This is Agnes," Henrietta gestured towards the woman with burns, "the captain of my newly formed Musketeer Corps. Those two beside her are also members of the Corps."

"You know those guns wouldn't even hurt me," I pointed out to Henrietta.

"True," Henrietta conceded. "Your magic is remarkably similar to Ancient Magic, and there are very few human weapons or spells in the world that can defeat it. But Wardes is not you."

I opened my mouth to argue, but then paused as I considered her words. Henrietta was right. True, the only reason why these musketeers had been able to sneak up on me was because I had been careless enough not to maintain my awareness of the space around us through the wind spirits, but Wardes would not have been able to do such a thing at all, period. That meant that these musketeers, who I honestly suspected were closer to ninjas than actual musketeers, could have indeed killed Wardes via assassination.

"Fine," I conceded grudgingly. "400 gold coins it is."

Henrietta pulled out an already prepared bag of coins from her desk drawers and placed it on the table for me to pick up.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you," Henrietta said happily.


	8. Chapter 8 - The Dragon's Raiment

_Author's Notes:_

_Finals finally done! And I probably failed my math final because, you know, fuck math. :(_

_In regards to the actual story, I realized just today that the name of the elemental techniques used in Kaze no Stigma (such as Kazuma's fuujutsu) is referred to in general as Seirei Jutsu, or Spirit Techniques. Up until this chapter, I've been just calling them "elemental jutsu" or something like that, but from now on I'll be going with Seirei Jutsu. I'll probably also be going back to previous chapters and editing that little tidbit where I should._

_So I decided to expand a lot more on Siesta starting from around the end of this chapter. I intend to have her play a much bigger and stronger role than she does in the ZnT canon, if I can. Thus, I've... Well, I won't spoil it, but it doesn't really have any grounding in either ZnT or KnS canon. Still, for the sake of the story, one must take liberties at times, no? Enjoy._

**-STORY START-**

"Okay, how about this, Kazuma?" Louise said. "And as the shy wind blows..."

"The wind is not shy," I interrupted. "It's capricious. Also, I'm not much of a poet, but that's a pretty lousy way to start."

"Grrr..." Louise growled as she scratched out a line on the parchment she had in front of her, using a small book as a writing surface. "What about this: as fire burns and releases smoke, so too shall the hearts burn bright."

"Eh. No," I said. "Siesta, can you pour me some of that Albionian wine?"

"Of course, Kazuma," Siesta said cheerfully as she carefully poured out the wine set on the table in Louise's room into an elegant glass wine cup.

"Thanks," I said as I received the wine from where I sat on my bed. Slowly, I sipped the wine and let the flavor roll around on my tongue, savoring it before I finally swallowed. "Mmm... Delicious."

"I got it!" Louise declared proudly. "Water bright, flowing might, the hearts of two intertwine!"

"Yeeaaaah... No," I rejected.

At that, Louise finally crumpled the paper she had scribbled all over and threw it over her shoulder. At the same time, she stood up and shouted, "Argh!" in frustration as she threw herself onto her own bed.

"I. Don't. Understand. Poetry." Louise said as she pounded her head against her pillow. "The wedding is in two weeks and I still haven't come up with anything!"

Unsure of how to answer that, I simply shrugged apologetically.

"Oh, oh, Miss Valliere!" Siesta said eagerly. "What if you use the poem from chapter 14 from The Guilty Maid and the Lord of Saxe-Gotha?"

"Siesta!" Louise looked aghast, and more than a little flushed. "You know I can't use that for a holy wedding!" Louise paused and tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Though maybe the one from chapter 3 of The Chevalier and the Poet's Daughter... I'd have to change it so I'm not plagiarizing and to make it fit in context of the wedding... Hm..."

It had been ten days since we had returned from Albion and reported to the princess when a letter and a package had arrived for Louise. The letter had been a request from the princess herself to serve as the bridesmaid for her wedding. The package was a book full of blank pages, and was known as the Founder's Prayer Book. Apparently, it was some kind of holy artifact and was customary for the bridesmaid to hold it as they recited their blessing for the wedding.

And strangely enough, during those ten days, Louise and Siesta had really bonded as friends, Louise going as far as to allow Siesta to sleep in her room, though in her own, separate bed that I had to pay for myself (thankfully the room was large enough to comfortably house three beds). This newfound friendship had been in large part thanks to a series of books that Siesta was an enormous fan of, and whom Louise had soon realized after being introduced to them that she too very much liked them. I made it a distinct point to ignore the blushing and giggling the two shared as they read the books. I had no idea what the books were about, but judging by their reactions, I don't think I cared to know.

"If you're having problems with writing a poem," I said, "why don't you go ask someone like Guiche or Kirche for help? I'd be willing to bet that he's composed a ton of poems and she's had to listen to just as many, if not more."

"You may be on to something..." Louise mused. "Alright. Let's go find them."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

We found Kirche lounging languidly in the courtyards, soaking in the sun while half a dozen boys catered to her, no doubt seeking to distinguish themselves in her eyes in order to get into her pants tonight.

"Darling!" Kirche cried out joyfully upon seeing me. She jumped to her feet and pounced upon me, capturing me in a full embrace that left the boys glaring at me hatefully with jealous eyes. "It's been too long!"

"Yes it has," I agreed. "But that's how life- Ow!"

I glanced over my shoulder to see a pouting Siesta pinching my side while giving me a dark, jealous glare.

"Anyway," I said, trying hard to ignore the painful fact that Siesta was now twisting while pinching me, "Louise wants to ask you for a favor."

"Really?" Kirche blinked in surprise and took a step back from me to look at Louise. "A Valliere asking for a favor from a Zerbst? Has the world ended or something?"

"Ha. Ha." Louise deadpanned. "Can we talk privately?"

Kirche arched an eyebrow, but nodded. She glanced over her shoulder at the boys who had been serving as her company and made a dismissive gesture. Though they grumbled disappointingly and angrily, they did as she bade them to and left.

"I need your help in writing a poem for the blessing of Princess Henrietta's wedding," Louise finally admitted. She seemed embarrassed at having to ask Kirche for help. "Kazuma suggested we ask you since you've probably heard a lot of poems before."

"Well..." Kirche began hesitantly, "I have and it's not like I can't help you out, but this is really more of Guiche's field of expertise. The poems I've heard are better for some... late night fun." Kirche once more pressed her body against mine seductively. "You know, darling, how about you come by to my room tonight and I can tell you some of them?."

Ow! Siesta, stop pinching me!

"Maybe next time," I winced. "Well, I guess we'd better try our luck with Guiche then."

"Aw," Kirche pouted. "Oh, but there might be a problem with asking Guiche for help too."

"What do you mean?" Louise asked curiously.

"I'm not sure why," Kirche said, "but ever since you guys all came back, he hasn't been himself."

"What do you mean?" Louise asked.

"According to Montmorency," Kirche shrugged, "he hardly comes out of his room anymore. He's also been skipping a lot of his classes and missing meals."

"Maybe he's just busy working on something privately?" Louise suggested.

"And he's completely stopped flirting with any girl," Kirche added.

"You're right," Louise frowned with a serious expression. "This _is_ serious."

"It's probably because of that thing with Wardes," I said.

During our mission in Albion, Guiche's childlike fantasy and image of Wardes had been thoroughly and totally shattered by none other than Wardes himself. Having been betrayed by Wardes, his idol, must have been disillusioning, to say the least. But then again, that was why it was a terrible and stupid idea to hero worship someone, especially to someone you don't even know personally. After all, hero worship basically entails you creating a false image of someone and believing that to be their true self. It was one of the most common ways people lied and tricked themselves.

"Wardes?" Louise's face twisted in anger. "Yes, that would explain things."

"Wait, is Wardes that extremely sexy man from last time?" Kirche asked eagerly. "I've been dying to meet him! Why don't you introduce us, Louise?"

"He's a traitor," Louise spat venomously. "And he's dead now anyway."

"Aw, that's too bad," Kirche said, looking disappointed more by the fact that he was dead rather than he was a traitor. "But how does that explain things about Guiche?"

"Guiche practically worshiped the guy," I explained. "So when it was revealed that he was a traitor," I shrugged, "he took it to heart, I guess."

"Oh," Kirche nodded in understanding. "I have a good idea then."

"Oh?" I arched an eyebrow. "What is it?"

"Treasure hunting!" Kirche said cheerfully.

I blinked. "Well, it's not like I'm against treasure hunting, but how does that help us at all?"

"Once we sell the treasure we find," Kirche began explaining happily, "we'll be able to gather the funds necessary for you to buy a noble's title in Germania! After that, you can propose to me and we'll get married!"

Louise looked as if she was about to say something in outrage, but Siesta beat her to it.

"You can't marry him!" Siesta declared.

"And why not, maid?" Kirche favored Siesta with a challenging glare. The glare of a wildcat ready to fight to protect its claim.

"Because he's going to marry me!" Siesta said proudly. "And then we're going to open a winery together!"

"He is, is he?" Kirche narrowed her eyes. "Tell me, maid. Has he proposed to you at all yet?"

"Well... No," Siesta admitted. "But that doesn't mean it won't happen!"

"The proposal _will_ happen," Kirche agreed. "But it will be with _me."_

I sighed as I slowly rubbed my temple. "Kirche, first of all, I have no intention of becoming a noble at all."

"Why not, darling?" Kirche asked with dismay. Siesta looked on with triumph. "Becoming a noble is like a dream for commoners."

"I'm a freelancer," I explained. "I don't tie myself down to any one faction permanently. Really limits business options, you know. Second, I don't intend to marry anyone."

This time it was Siesta's turn to look at me with dismay. Kirche, on the other hand, seemed to perk up, strangely enough.

"A challenge, then!" Kirche said excitedly. "Excellent! There is no heart that the passionate fire of the Zerbst family cannot melt!"

"And third," I continued, deciding to ignore what Kirche just said to get to the crux of what I wanted to say, "how does a treasure hunt help solve Louise's poetic problems?"

Kirche paused for a moment in the middle of a very animated gesticulation designed to help illustrate exactly how she planned to "melt my heart" as she considered that question. It appeared that when she had suggested it, Louise's problems had been probably the furthest thing from her mind. She shrugged in a careless gesture. "It can provide inspiration or something, I suppose? A lot of famous poets do their best work by writing based on their own experiences after all."

"You know," Louise said thoughtfully, "that's not such a bad idea."

"Really?" Kirche said excitedly. "Then let's go! And then Kazuma and I can get married afterward!"

I sighed as I ignored the argument that had begun anew between Siesta and Kirche over whom I would marry.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Orc. To the left," I drawled.

Louise whirled to face the incoming humanoid pig looking creature and accurately blew its head off with a small, controlled explosion. Ever since her first battle with Foquet, Louise had truly come a long way in becoming a skilled fighter through her own, private training. True, all she could cast were explosions, and thus lacked much in the way of versatility, but she made up for that with sheer destructive power. So far, there had been no creature that could resist a one-shot kill from a well placed explosion by Louise. In the week we had spent treasure hunting, Louise had been alternating between attempting to write a good poem, then giving up for a while to go kill some of the monsters that tended to loiter around the treasure hunting areas. It served for her as both stress relief and actual combat experience.

"Louise," I called out. "Two behind you."

The pink-haired mage reacted a second too late, and whirled around just as two of the orcs swung their crude wooden clubs down at her skull. Louise cried out with a shocked "Eep!" and instinctively closed her eyes and flinched. With a sigh, I snapped my fingers and the two orcs' heads were suddenly rocked backward once, twice, then three times, a distinctive popping sound accompanying them each time, and forcibly causing them to move step backwards just as many times to balance themselves, granting Louise enough time to recover her composure and renew her assault. It was the same trick I had used to knock out Wardes the first time I dueled him at La Rochelle, and I had taken to calling them my "air bombs." Depending on the amount of strength I put into them, they could range from being as weak as regular punches to as strong as a sledgehammer being slammed full force.

As much as Louise had truly improved, she was still very green in combat and had the terrible, potentially fatal beginner's tendency to flinch and freeze up when faced with danger from so close. But, well, it's like they say; baby steps.

I felt a gentle tugging on the sleeve of my jacket and I glanced aside to see Tabitha looking at me with curious eyes. She pointed to the orcs, who were now being blown to meaty pieces by an angry Louise, and said, "How?"

"What?" I blinked at her, confused by the terse question.

"She's asking how you cast that spell to knock back those orcs," Kirche clarified from where she lounged by Sylphid, lazily flicking fireballs and incinerating orcs, allowing her salamander familiar, Flame, to maul them viciously with its sharp claws and fangs.

This little treasure hunting trip had been surprisingly eyeopening for me about the combat abilities of Kirche and Tabitha. Since my only previous experience seeing these two fight had been against Foquet, in which they had been mostly useless, I had not had a very high opinion of their combat strength. It turned out, however, that Foquet had simply been far too powerful to be a fair measurement of strength. Kirche and Tabitha were both triangle class mages, the second most powerful rank human mages could achieve in Halkeginia and both of them had a correspondingly appropriate level of skill and raw power, Tabitha beating out Kirche just slightly in terms of skill and Kirche winning slightly in power. For them, taking care of the various orcs and monsters was so easy that they looked almost bored and lazy doing it. Comparing that to Louise's more frantic fighting, it was easy to tell that Louise had a long way to go in becoming a truly proficient mage.

When I opened my mouth, I found myself about to charge money for teaching her how to use my air bombs. But then I stopped myself. A little charity just this once couldn't hurt, especially since it was from one wind mage to another. Besides, it felt like it would be very strange trying to charge the petite girl with eyes almost completely devoid of all emotions, save for pure curiosity.

"It's a simple process," I said finally. "You need to very rapidly compress all the air in an area as tightly as you can into a small ball of air. The smaller and denser you can compress the air into, the more stronger and better it will be. Once that's done, release your hold on it and just let it explode."

Tabitha nodded in understanding and looked around momentarily to search for an appropriate target. When she found it, a lone orc that was attempting to flee, she aimed her crooked staff at it and quietly chanted a few words. There was a popping sound as the orc's head snapped backwards, its neck broken. Ouch. It seemed that Tabitha had placed a bit too much power into the spell. Still, to be able to instantly use something she's never done before was very impressive.

Of course, there was one other mage who had come along with us and had surprised me with his change: Guiche. As we were leaving, he had somehow found out about our impromptu trip and asked to come with us. I had been wary about allowing him to come considering that he looked absolutely terrible. There were bags beneath his eyes and his hair was completely disheveled, indicating that he had not slept properly for at least two or three days now. He had been strangely insistent, however, so in the end we allowed him to come.

Turns out the reason he wanted to come with us was as a form of release, a way of venting all his frustration and confusion on the poor monsters who got in his way. He fought with such viciousness and brutality that the way he destroyed his enemies reminded me of how I had slaughtered Mott, a memory I looked back upon with the utmost fondness. Though his fighting style could only be described as reckless, I figured that it would be best just to allow him to continue with his self-prescribed therapy.

And as it turned out, it had been highly effective. After three days, Guiche had begun to return to his normal, annoying self, and had loudly declared to all of us that he would surpass the traitorous Wardes in power and be to the country and the princess what Wardes should have been: a loyal, powerful subject. I found myself amused at how he described the princess as a holy woman, pure and completely innocent, when in reality that was far from the truth and he was also doing to Henrietta the exact same thing he had done to Wardes: hero worshipping.

"Kazuma!" Siesta called out from where she was tending to a campfire and a hanging pot. Unlike the nobles who were still dressed in their Academy uniforms, Siesta had changed into a pale blouse and a dark skirt, and though it was far from fashionable, they were simple, comfortable, warm, and sturdy. "Dinner is ready!"

With the last of the orcs dead, we all gathered around the campfire and gratefully accepted the bowls of food that Siesta was handing out. I dug into it with delight. I had no idea how she did it, but given only a scant amount of ingredients she had taken from the Academy when we left and whatever else she could find on the field, she had managed to make a meal worthy of a four star hotel. It reminded me of something Marteau had once told me: that cooking is a magic all its own. After eating the meals he and Siesta prepared for me all the time, disagreeing was impossible.

"So, this temple turned out to be a bust," I commented. "Where to next, Kirche?"

"Give me a moment," Kirche said as she began fumbling around with several scrolls that she produced from a nearby bag. "Let's see... "

By now, we had gone through nearly every one of the treasure maps Kirche had bought from the market. As could be expected from following a treasure map sold so publicly, we had found nothing of value, save for a few dirty coins and the occasional chipped and muddied jewelery.

"How about this one?" Kirche said finally as she unfurled one of the few unused scrolls. "It's called the 'Dragon's Raiment.' Supposedly, it's an artifact with powerful wind magics imbued into it, granting it the power of flight without the use of spells."

"Oh, I know that one," Siesta piped up. "It's near a village called Tarbes, right?"

"Yes, actually," Kirche blinked at the maid in surprise. She cocked her head curiously. "How did you know?"

"It's a family heirloom," Siesta explained. "My great-grandfather brought it here."

"Really?" Kirche said. "Then the Dragon's Raiment is real?"

"No," Siesta shook her head a little embarrassingly. "Or at least, the thing my great-grandfather claimed was the Dragon's Raiment is real, but it doesn't actually fly. He always insisted that it could, but whenever he was asked to prove it, he said that it couldn't anymore. But besides that bit of craziness, he was a wonderful person."

"That's too bad," Kirche sighed disappointingly as she tossed aside the map and ate a spoonful of her food.

"Let's go anyway," I said. "I'm kind of curious about the Dragon's Raiment, and it's not like we've been able to find any real treasure anyway. Besides, I bet Siesta would like an opportunity to visit her family."

That last bit rolled off my tongue heavy with irony, irony which was lost upon everyone there, save for Louise, though she probably didn't catch it either. After all, I, who had been abandoned by my family, was now suggesting we go to a village for the sake of visiting family. It made me chuckle quietly on the inside.

"That sounds like a great idea!" Siesta chirped happily. "I could introduce you to my parents and then we could start a... Kya!" Siesta blushed furiously as she began daydreaming about a fantasy no doubt involving me and her in a very intimate moment.

Truth be told, it's not like I wouldn't be willing to share those intimate moments with Siesta. After all, she was a very attractive young woman. She had a slender, supple body, an absolutely adorable face, and a very charming personality. On the other hand, I simply was not interested in marriage at the present. Not with the memories of Tsui Ling still so fresh in my mind...

I shook my head to drive the terrible images the mere thought of the name invoked in my mind. Those memories tended to make me very bad company.

"Kazuma?" Louise said curiously. "What's wrong?"

"Hm?" I looked at Louise. "Ah, nothing."

But then there was Louise. So long as I was considered her familiar, I doubted I would get to take advantage of any nighttime opportunities. Her rivalry with Kirche was still extremely strong, and she became extremely angry if the redhead flirted with me in even the slightest. In her eyes, no matter what I claimed, I was still her familiar, her possession, and she would sooner die than give up something belonging to the Vallieres to the Zerbsts. And since she, Siesta, and I all lived in the same room, it's not like anything could happen on that front either. Louise would have thrown a fit.

Oh well. That's life, I suppose.

"How long will it take to get to Tarbes?" I asked.

"Tomorrow," came Tabitha's answer.

We all looked to Kirche for clarification on her friend's one word answer.

"She means that we're going to have to allow Sylphid to rest for the night," Kirche supplied, "and that we'll reach Tarbes by tomorrow afternoon if we leave in the early morning." Kirche sighed and rolled her eyes. "Another night of camping outdoors..."

"How did you learn all that from just one word?" I asked. I found myself extremely curious to learn the secrets of Kirche and Tabitha's apparent telepathic link.

Kirche shrugged. "We're friends."

"I didn't realize friends could read each other's minds," I said sarcastically.

"You mean you can't?" Kirche asked quizzically. "It's actually really easy once you truly get to know someone."

"I see," I said, though I didn't actually understand. It seemed to me that friends or not, being able to derive that much of someone's meaning from just one word simply _had_ to have its roots in some kind of magic or science fiction type of technology.

Well. Whatever. I suppose I'll just chalk this up to as one of the mysteries of female friendship.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"It shouldn't be too much further from here," Siesta said as she led our group through a dark and winding cave. Flame waddled along beside the maid, using its fire tipped tail and letting out a constant stream of fire from its mouth to help light our way.

"Why did your great-grandfather put the Dragon's Raiment so far away from the village?" Louise grumbled. Despite the exhilaration of killing orcs and monsters, it seemed that this treasure hunt had taken its toll on Louise. The physical exhaustion it entailed had frayed her temper, making her more irritable.

Then again, she tended to naturally be easy to anger or annoy, so perhaps she was just being normal?

"My great-grandfather really liked this place apparently," Siesta explained. "So he saved up money from working and then had it moved to the end of this cave and had a preservation spell cast on it. There's a clearing with a really lovely garden he tended to himself there, and at his request, his grave is there too."

"Wait," I said suddenly and gestured for the group to stop.

"What is it?" Louise asked.

I narrowed my eyes towards the darkness further beyond the cave. After being ambushed by Agnes and her musketeers, I had worked hard to fix the carelessness that had allowed such a thing to happen. Thus, I had quickly become aware that there was another person deeper within the cave.

"Professor Colbert," I called out into the darkness. "This is Kazuma, along with your students from the Academy. What are you doing here?"

From the darkness, a single brilliant fire lit up, revealing Colbert as he walked over to our group.

"I could ask you all the same thing," Colbert said with a frown. "Though I must confess, I am more curious as to how you found me out so easily, Kazuma."

"Trade secret," I answered.

Colbert's frown deepened, though it was more out of an unsatisfied curiosity than actual disappointment. "Well, I'm here because I heard rumors of the Dragon's Raiment and I wanted to study it. What about you all?"

"We're here to find the Dragon's Raiment, sell it, and then make darling a noble so that he can propose to me," Kirche answered for us all.

"He is not going to propose to you!" Siesta protested.

"Um... Kirche," Guiche said. "You know that Kazuma can't actually become a noble, right? There are laws that specifically disallow him from buying land or becoming a noble, even if he can use really weird magic."

"Maybe in Tristain," Kirche scoffed, "but it's perfectly acceptable in Germania. Kazuma can just become a Germanian noble."

"That's why everyone calls Germania the barbarian country," Louise muttered. Guiche nodded in agreement.

"And that's why a traditional country is forced to ally with said 'barbarian country' in order to be able to oppose Albion," Kirche retorted. "All your silly traditions and whatnot has only weakened your country."

Louise and Guiche both bristled angrily at the jab.

"So, Kazuma," Colbert said quickly before the argument could escalate any further. "You're a mage?"

"You didn't know?" I looked at Colbert, genuinely surprised. "I thought that at least the teachers would know about the truth of the rumors."

"What rumors? This is my first time hearing it," Colbert admitted. "Though, I do tend to spend most of my time in my workshop, so I'm not always privy to secrets and rumors... In any case, how can you use magic? Aren't you simply a commoner?"

I scratched my head and inwardly sighed. It seemed this teacher had plans to interrogate me fully about everything without caring about the fact that we were standing around in the middle of a dark cave and that this wasn't even his original goal. "I'll explain later. For now, let's go see that Dragon's Raiment, okay?"

"Oh, yes, of course," Colbert agreed quickly.

Once more, our group, now one person bigger, made its way through the caves until, at the end, we walked into a fairly large open clearing. Like Siesta had said earlier, the place was a beautiful garden. Though it appeared to have fallen into disuse, with weeds sprouting here and there, it still held strong traces of its former glory. A field of flowers of all types bloomed across the clearing, the sunlight streaming down from the large opening above us.

But it was what sat at the center of the clearing that caught my attention.

"Well I'll be damned," I let out a low whistle.

"That's the Dragon's Raiment?" Kirche said disappointingly.

"It doesn't really seem like much of a powerful wind artifact at all," Guiche said. "How is this thing even supposed to fly? Those wings don't look like they can even move."

"It can fly," I said. All eyes turned to me. "It's called an airplane."

I walked up to the plane and brushed my hand against it, causing the runes on my left hand to begin glowing brightly. Like with the M72 from before, knowledge about this plane and how to use it began to flood my mind.

"Specifically, it's called a Mitsubishi A6M Zero," I said. "It's a fighter aircraft. It's a weapon from my world."

"Your world?" Guiche, Siesta, and Colbert all said at the same time. I had forgotten due to my surprise of seeing another relic of Earth that there were three people here who did not know of my Earthling status.

"Yes. I'm from a completely different world than this one," I admitted freely. It's not like there was any reason to keep that fact a secret. "It's a world called Earth. And this is a weapon made a fairly long time ago on Earth actually. I think they stopped making these around 60 or 70 years ago."

"You can't seriously expect us to believe that, can you?" Guiche said in disbelief.

"Whether you do or do not doesn't concern me," I said. "Just by believing something to be false does not change the truth."

"So my great-grandfather was telling the truth when he said this thing can fly?" Siesta asked.

"As it is? No. Though, it is in excellent condition," I said. Its condition probably had to do with the preservation spell Siesta had mentioned earlier. "You see, the Zero doesn't run off of windstones or anything magical. It uses purely nonmagical methods to achieve flight. One of the most crucial elements for that is gasoline, the fuel necessary to power it. And unfortunately, it's all out of fuel. Even more unfortunately, this world probably doesn't have the level of technology necessary to make more."

"If you have a sample of the fuel," Colbert said, "I may be able to reproduce it."

I looked at the teacher and nodded gratefully. "There might be some leftover in the gas tank, assuming that the preservation spell managed to preserve that too. But, well, this plane is your family's possession, Siesta. It's up to you to decide what to do with it."

"Ah, about that," Siesta said, putting one fist on top of an open palm in a cute universal gesture that indicated sudden remembrance. "My great-grandfather actually left a will that said whoever could read the inscription carved into his gravestone should be given the Dragon's Raiment."

"Can you show it to me?" I asked.

"Of course," Siesta said. "It's right over here."

Siesta led us a little further towards the far edge of the clearing. There, resting beneath a healthy tree sat a simple grey gravestone. On it were carved the familiar characters of the Japanese language.

"Here lies Sasaki Takeo, Naval Ensign of the Imperial Japanese Navy and heir to the Sasaki clan," I read off. "Huh. It seems that your ancestor comes from the same country I'm from, Siesta. I guess that explains the black hair and eyes." Though the question remained: why did Siesta have the Spanish word for an afternoon nap for her name?

Wait. Sasaki Takeo? Sasaki clan? Where have I heard those names before?

"Really?" Siesta said, pleasantly surprised. "Well, in any case, the Dragon's Raiment is now yours."

"Wonderful!" Colbert exclaimed joyfully, no doubt eager to begin studying the Zero fighter as soon as we returned to the Academy with it. "We'll need to send a message to some dragon knights requesting pick up. Mister Gramont, you have connections with the military through your father, do you not? Could you send a request asking for a platoon of dragon knights to be sent over? I'll pay for the costs."

"Of course, Professor," Guiche said respectfully.

"There's no need for that," I said. "I'll make it fly."

"I thought you said it was out of fuel though and that we could not make more with our level of technology," Colbert said quizzically.

"Yeah," I nodded as I held my hand out in front of me and began concentrating. "It's why I'll make some windstones to give it flight for now."

"Make wind-" Colbert yelped in surprise, along with all the others, as the winds gathered in my palm and crystallized into a small transparent stone.

"Y-y-y-you just made a windstone!" Louise said in an accusing manner.

"Yes I did," I said through gritted teeth. This was my second time creating a windstone, the first time was when I was on the airship with Foquet. It was true what they said. The second time is much easier. Unlike last time, where each windstone had left me feeling more and more heavily drained, this time I was only feeling moderately tired.

"But that's impossible!" Louise declared.

"Apparently not," I grunted tersely as I began forming another windstone.

"This is amazing, Kazuma!" Colbert exclaimed. "You must explain to me how you're doing this! If we can duplicate your process, it could bring about an unprecedented level of prosperity for the general population! And I must know, can you do this with the other elements too? Fire? Earth? Water?"

"Unfortunately, Professor," I grunted as I finished my fourth windstone, "our magics are too fundamentally different. Halkeginians can't do this, as far as I can tell. And I'm only able to control the wind, so I can't make fire or earth or wa-"

I froze, the collected wind spirits in my hand dissipating back into their normal conditions. _Now_ I remember why the name Sasaki sounded so familiar.

The Sasaki clan used to be Japan's premiere clan of suijutsushis, Water Technique users, on level with the Tsuwabaki or the Kannagi. And Sasaki Takeo had been said to have been the greatest, strongest heir to the clan since its founding. The Sasaki clan, having been the most patriotic amongst all the clans of Seirei jutsushis, Spirit Technique Practitioners, had been notorious for sending their members to join the Japanese military.

On one hand, this meant that the country's top officials absolutely loved them for the supernatural power they brought to bear. On the other hand, this alienated them somewhat from the other seirei jutsushis who felt that their art should be used not for any one country in particular, but for the secret safeguarding of all mankind.

It was because of this patriotic attitude that led to Sasaki Takeo volunteering to join the Japanese military during World War II. However, one day, while on routine flight, he simply disappeared. There was no evidence of his desertion or capture or death or anything else. He had simply vanished. For the Sasaki clan, it was like their own version of Amelia Earhart.

After that, everything had gone downhill for the clan. With their strongest, most important member gone, the Sasaki clan suddenly found themselves lacking leadership and work and the incoming flow of funds quickly slowed down to a trickle. Within a few years, ostracized by the other clans and their own clan facing a civil war from within over the position of the next head of the family, the clan dissolved and disappeared into the annals of time, with the disappearance of Sasaki Takeo forever becoming an unsolved mystery.

Well. It seems I that I just solved that mystery.

"Kazuma?" Colbert looked at my frozen self and frowned. "Are you alright?"

Slowly, I turned to look at Siesta directly, causing her to blush underneath such a plain, direct stare. "I might not be able to make anything besides windstones, but Siesta might be able to make a waterstone."


	9. Chapter 9 - The Battle of Tarbes

_Author's Notes:_

_Okay, so this chapter is quite a bit shorter than most of the others, coming in at around 4000 words or so. The reason why is because though I could've added a couple scenes in this chapter about what happened to Louise, Kirche, and the others after their little unsanctioned field trip, specifically in regards to the school's punishment on them. But I decided that didn't actually have any real bearing on the story and would have served to just pad out the length instead. So I basically summarized it as much as I could and otherwise ignored it. Enjoy!  
_

**-STORY START-  
**

As I stood upon a small hill that overlooked Tarbes, I realized something. There was something to be said about the beauty of the simple, rustic life. True, it could probably never match the sheer grandeur and awesome visage that a modern Earth city could, but it was equally true that there were very few countries left on Earth that had a place as naturally beautiful as Tarbes anymore.

Underneath the still dark, starry sky of the early morning dawn, I looked out quietly over the village and the vast fields of grass and flowers surrounding it. Aside from Tarbes itself, there was little to no human development in the area, giving the village a sense of being a peaceful haven living in perfect harmony with a natural paradise.

"Good morning, Siesta," I called out without turning to see who it was that was walking up behind me, my voice carrying easily in the complete silence that pervaded the sleepy village.

"Good morning," Siesta replied as she sidled up beside me. "How did you know it was me?"

"The spirits told me," I answered.

"Ah. The spirits..." Siesta murmured thoughtfully. "I was wondering, did you really mean what you said yesterday? That I could learn to use magic?"

"Yes," I said. "If you want to, that is."

"Of course I want to!" Siesta said immediately. Then she blushed at how overenthusiastic her reply had been, and then continued more slowly. "It's just that I'm not sure if I really understood everything that you explained to us back in the cave about your Spirit Techniques."

"That's alright," I said. "I think of those there, only Colbert and Tabitha really understood everything I said."

At least, I hoped that at least Colbert did. I did not want to have to repeat everything that I had already said if I could help it. We had already spent nearly an hour by the Zero fighter after he learned of my magic just so that he could continue drilling me on every little detail about Seirei Jutsu. Sure, I got a really nice bag of gold coins for the impromptu lesson out of him (something Louise had been rather upset about), but if he had had it his way, we probably would have been there for at least all night.

It was only because I promised that we could discuss it more once we returned to the Academy that he finally relented and we returned to Tarbes to rest for the night. Louise and I had slept at Siesta's home with her parents and eight siblings, while Colbert and the others had rented a room at an inn in the village.

"Still, if I'm to learn Spirit Techniques, don't you think I should properly understand how it works?" Siesta pouted cutely.

"I suppose so," I agreed. "All you really need to remember for now is that Spirit Techniques involves essentially just two things: forming a contract with the spirits of an element and then invoking that contract to ask the spirits to do something for you. The stronger the contract, the more spirits you can call forth. The more spirits you can call forth, the greater the things you can do. For now, we'll try and have you form a contract with water spirits. We'll need to go some place where they're in abundance, like around a lake or a river, to make it easier. After that, we can begin your lessons and... What?"

Siesta was staring at me with a quizzical look. "It's just... There's something else I don't understand. When Mister Colbert simply asked you about Spirit Techniques, you wouldn't tell him a single thing until he paid you. But how come you're volunteering to actually teach me it for free?"

"Because you gave me food when I was hungry," I said offhandedly.

"You said that last time too, after Mott." Siesta shook her head and smiled as if I had told a joke. "I don't believe that's all there is to it. Why really? Please tell me the truth."

I sighed and scratched the back of my head. "If you want the truth, it's simply because you were kind to me. I'd rather not go too deeply into it, but for most of my life being shown kindness was a very rare thing, so I appreciate it that much more."

"What was your life like?" Siesta asked.

"I said I didn't want to go into it too deeply," I said in a stern, dismissive tone. "And it doesn't really matter."

"It does matter," Siesta insisted. "I want to know more about you, Kazuma, but I can't do that if you keep yourself a secret."

As if she only just realized what she said after she said it, Siesta began blushing furiously while I regarded her carefully.

"I... What I meant to say was..." Siesta stammered.

With a smile, I put a hand on Siesta's head and patted her gently. "Siesta, who I was in the past shouldn't matter. What matters is that I am me, here and now."

"If you say so, Kazuma..." Siesta said disappointingly as I took my hand off of her. She looked out at the scenery of Tarbes. "What do you think about this place, Kazuma?"

I let my eyes wander over Tarbes once more before replying. "It's beautiful," I admitted softly. "It's rare to see a place as beautiful as this on Earth."

Siesta looked downwards and began twiddling with her fingers as her face once more blushed a bright pink color. "My father said that meeting with someone from the same country as my great-grandfather must be fate," Siesta said shyly. "And he was very thankful to you for saving me from Mott. He was wondering if you would want to settle down here in Tarbes... With me."

"I see," I said quietly.

"But you don't want to, do you, Kazuma?" Siesta said sadly.

I nodded.

"I thought so," Siesta said, though she sighed a little regretfully. "Being a wind mage suits you, I think. You're a man that can't be held down to one place, just like the wind that freely goes where it pleases."

I said nothing at her assessment of myself. She wasn't necessarily wrong, but that wasn't completely right either.

The truth of the matter was that I had lost my first home when my family abandoned and banished me. And then I had lost my second and true home when I lost Tsui Ling. It wasn't that I simply went where I pleased. It was that I had no place I called home anymore, nor did I have a desire any longer to find one.

"Yeah," I said finally. "I guess so."

For a while, the two of us simply stood there, watching the sun slowly rise over the horizon, casting its soft rays of light down on the village of Tarbes. It wasn't until the birds began chirping to herald the true arrival of morning that one of us spoke again.

"We should go back," Siesta said softly. "Breakfast will be prepared soon."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"What am I going to do!?" Louise shrieked in panic as she frantically paced around her room. "The wedding is _tomorrow_ and I still haven't come up with anything! What was even the point of going on that stupid treasure hunt? What do I do!?"

"On the bright side, your combat skills have improved by quite a bit from all the practice you had killing orcs," I said helpfully.

"Who cares about a few stupid orcs!" Louise cried out angrily. "I'm going to make a fool out of the princess and myself if I don't come up with something!"

"Why don't you use chapter 3 of The Chevalier and the Poet's Daughter?" My mouth quirked into an amused smile.

Louise glared at me angrily, though the effect was diminished by the embarrassed blush that graced her face, before quietly growling to herself, "Stupid maid with her stupid, stupid books. Stupid, unhelpful familiar..."

Unconsciously, I glanced over to Siesta's bed, which sat empty and unused. When we had left Tarbes to return to the Academy, Siesta had approached me to ask for a two weeks vacation to help her family in the upcoming harvest, which I had allowed.

From there, the rest of the trip had been fairly uneventful. I had created just enough windstones to make the Zero fighter levitate, for any more would have been too taxing on me and taken too much time. Instead, Sylphid had simply towed the plane through the air all the way back. Though the students had been curious as to what exactly the plane was, they simply did not care enough to ask too deeply about it.

It seemed that only Colbert truly cared about the Zero fighter, and he held me up for a few hours immediately after we landed so I could finish my lesson on Seirei Jutsu and the Zero fighter. With the former, I had been able to teach him sufficiently enough so that his thirst for knowledge was at least temporarily satiated. With the latter, my own knowledge of antiquated military technology was rather lacking. Thus, I simply loaned him the plane, allowing him to study it at his leisure.

And of course, as punishment for skipping classes, everyone who went on the treasure hunt received the punishment of cleaning a classroom by hand. Everyone, that is, except Louise, who excused herself by saying it was to get inspiration for the blessing, and me, who, being a familiar, technically was not counted as a student, or even a human being for that matter.

"Why don't you go ask Guiche for help?" I suggested. "Since he's mostly back to his normal self, he should be able to help you now."

"I already tried that," Louise admitted. "But he was a little too... zealous about writing Princess Henrietta's, ah, virtues instead of actually writing a blessing for the wedding."

"Makes sense," I nodded, recalling Guiche's enthusiastic fanboy-esque devotion to the princess.

"Argh! What am I going to do!?" Louise wailed desperately. "Kazuma! Help!"

I scratched my head and shrugged nonchalantly. "Dunno?"

"You're not being helpful," Louise hissed at me.

"No, I'm not," I agreed. "Good thing it doesn't concern me though. Phew. I'm so glad that I won't get in trouble because Henrietta's chosen bridesmaid won't have a blessing to recite like she's supposed to. Man, I sure do have it easy."

"I hate you so much right now," Louise growled. I grinned in reply.

The loud sound of the beating of hooves and a horse's whinnying caught both of our attentions, though Louise reacted to it much more strongly than I did. She nearly fell to the ground with a look of horror on her face.

"No, no, no," Louise whispered fearfully to herself. "The wedding is tomorrow! They can't be here to pick us up already!"

Walking over to the window overlooking the Academy's courtyard, I peered outside and narrowed my eyes. "I don't think that they're here to pick us up," I said. "Come here and look."

Louise frowned as she walked over to the window as well and peered outside. Instead of there being a carriage or even a group of riders, as one would expect from an escort, there was only one horseman. Judging from his light clothing, his and his horse's evident exhaustion, and his solitary status, I assumed that he was a messenger of some kind.

"Those are the colors of the palace's royal messengers," Louise breathed, pointing out the light indigo and violet colors of the rider's clothes. "What's going on?"

"I don't know," I answered as the messenger dismounted and began running into the Academy. "Let's go find out."

Louise nodded in agreement and we quickly left her room. As we made our way to the main hall, I spread my consciousness throughout air of the halls and rooms of the entire Academy, searching for where the messenger was headed. It did not take me long to find out.

"He's making a beeline for the headmaster's office," I informed Louise, who nodded.

We adjusted our course to quickly make our way to Osmond's office, arriving just in time to see the door close behind the messenger. Quietly, the two of us walked up beside the door and pressed our ears close to it.

"Terrible news, Headmaster!" we heard the messenger cry out from behind the door. "Albion has declared war on Tristain! They're invading Tarbes as we speak!"

Louise's eyes widened as she heard the news, while at the same time mine narrowed.

"Siesta," Louise whispered urgently.

I nodded. "There's no choice. I'm going to go save Siesta."

As I opened a nearby window to jump out of and take flight, I felt Louise grab me quickly by the sleeve of my jacket.

"I'm going too," Louise commanded.

"No," I said. "This is too dangerous for you. And quite frankly, you won't be of much use."

"I. Am. Going. Too." Louise said tersely. "Siesta is my friend too! And Tristain is my country! I won't stand for an attack on either!"

"... Fine." I slipped my arms around the small of her back and underneath her arms, picking her up easily. "Hold on tight, then."

Louise nodded firmly and wrapped her arms around my neck as I took a running start and launched us out of the window. For a brief moment, we began falling. Then the wind spirits gathered around us into a spherical barrier and halted our free fall. Then, as I collected more wind spirits to me, we began to move forward, propelled by an invisible force at high speeds in the direction of Tarbes.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"What a mess," I muttered as I surveyed the battlefield from our vantage point high above the entire battlefield.

Below us, a scene of chaos and carnage was playing out. The once peaceful village of Tarbes and its beautiful fields were ablaze with fire, thick black smoke rising from the burning remains. Littering the ground throughout and around the village were corpses of villagers. I found myself shaking in anger, praying that Siesta was not among the casualties.

Further away from the ruins of Tarbes, in one of the few fields not burnt to ashes, there was roughly three thousand troops employed on the ground, with the vast majority of them being cavalry. That was a number far too small to take over a country by itself, even if said country was a small one like Tristain. Thus, judging by its small size and its heavy emphasis on cavalry, this was probably the vanguard intended to create chaos within the enemy country in order to allow for the safe establishment of a beachhead for the rest of the invading force.

Honestly, though, the vanguard didn't concern me overly much. It was the fleet of airships fitted with cannons and the army of dragonriders flitting about the sky that concerned me, especially since the aforementioned air fleet was bombarding the 2,000 strong Tristainian force positioned further away in the outskirts of the village.

It seemed that Albion's plan was to destroy the Tristanian troops' strength and morale with a rain of cannonballs before swooping in with the cavalry to finish them off. Though the Tristanians were doing an admirable job in defending against the barrage through a massive wind barrier, their battle was ultimately a lost one.

"Reconquista..." Louise hissed angrily, her hands gripping the Founder's Prayer Book tightly in her hands. In our rush over here, she had forgotten to leave it behind at the Academy.

"Yeah," I agreed just as angrily. "I'm going to kill them all."

"What? Without charging anyone anything?" Louise said dryly.

"The payment is their lives," I said. "Hang on tight."

I dived down like a raptor towards the dragon riders who were circling around in the sky almost lazily. Unaware of my approach until too late, two of the dragons and riders both died instantly, cut into two pieces as I flew past them.

However, these people were professional and well trained soldiers. After seeing two of their comrades killed by an unknown assailant, they responded immediately. Ten of the nearest dragon riders surrounded Louise and I in a perfect spherical formation while more of their comrades hovered further out, close enough to respond if I attempted to make a break for it, but far enough so that they had ample time to respond to any other attackers, leaving the ten to deal with me personally.

The ten dragons opened their fanged jaws and let loose a breath of fire on the two of us. In response, I used a tactic of pure force. My barrier began spinning faster and faster, such that when the flames hit us, the barrier was rotating quickly enough to simply disperse the flames. Then, as more wind spirits responded to my silent call, the spinning sphere of wind transformed into a raging tornado.

"You bastards are dead," I snarled as my tornado sucked in the nearby dragons and their riders and shredded them to pieces.

Though I could not see past the dust and debris picked up by the raging winds of the tornado, I could sense from the wind spirits beyond the spinning wall of air that many more of the dragon riders had gathered a safe distance away from my tornado, while at the same time the ships were beginning to turn their broadside in my direction, aiming their powerful cannons at me.

With a thought, I immediately dispersed my tornado into a storm of air blades that scattered in all directions and homed in on a dragon rider, two air blades per dragon rider. Though many of them managed to react in time to try and evade the air blades, it was hopeless, for the blades hunted them down relentlessly and killed each and every one of them without fail.

"Amazing!" Louise cried out. "I mean, I knew you were really strong after you beat Wardes, but you just destroyed so many of Albion's renowned dragon knights by yourself."

"Yeah," I nodded, keeping my eyes trained on the air fleet. "Incoming!"

A thunderous chorus of gunpowder erupted as the air fleet fired their cannons. While I had confidence that I could probably create a wind barrier strong enough to withstand a dozen or two cannonballs, what was coming directly for us were cannonballs numbering in the several hundreds.

But that was only true if I tried to meet that powerful barrage head on.

Two wind streams formed at an angle from either side of me, connecting at a single point further up ahead, towards the direction where the cannons were coming from. By forming a V-shaped wedge of fast flowing wind that gently altered the path of the incoming cannonballs away from Louise and I, we remained perfectly safe as the cannons veered off away from us.

With that attack stopped and no more dragon knights approaching us, I shot upwards high into the sky, until I was once more overlooking the fleet and the battlefield.

"Now here's the biggest problem," I murmured as I considered the fleet below.

"Can you not destroy them?" Louise asked.

"It's not that I can't," I said, "but it will cost me so much of my strength that-... Wait, Louise. Why is your book glowing?"

Louise blinked at me and then glanced down at the Founder's Prayer Book. Sure enough, the pages within the book was shining with a bright light, and shone even brighter once Louise quickly opened the books. When she did, she discovered that where there had once been only blank pages, there were now a few pages written upon with shining letters.

Louise's eyes flicked across the pages for but a moment before her face settled into an expression of solid resolution.

"Kazuma," she said. "Protect me while I cast this spell. I'm going to destroy those ships."

Though I arched an eyebrow in surprise, I nodded in acquiescence. Whether she could or could not, there was no reason not to let her try. If she succeeded, great. If not, then I'll simply have to use my Contractor powers to destroy them instead.

I released Louise and created a platform of wind beneath her, allowing her to stand on the air as if she were on solid ground. As she took out her wand and began chanting strange words, I noticed something strange. The words she spoke, though I had not even the slightest of ideas what they meant, were filling me with a warm, strong feeling. It was a feeling very much like courage, and had I been afraid prior to Louise's chanting, I very probably would have mistaken it as such. Instead, these feelings felt almost bizarre in how strong they were.

Shaking my head, I quickly pushed the thoughts out of my mind, turning my attention instead to the dragon knights that were now flying up to engage us. With Louise and I floating directly above the air fleet, there was no chance that the cannons could hit us. And having seen my power, there was also no way that the Albion forces could simply ignore my presence.

In all battles, one of the most fundamental and important advantages that should be taken as soon as reasonably possible was the high ground advantage. That simple fact did not change at all in aerial combat.

With the sun shining down at my back and directly into the eyes of the dragons and their riders, they were having a difficult time at properly aiming their spells and fire breaths at Louise and I. Furthermore, flying directly upwards was one of the hardest, most exhausting forms of movements possible due to having to directly and completely fight against gravity. Thus their movements became slower, more sluggish.

And because they could neither see nor move well, dodging my attacks was all but impossible for them.

A storm of air blades rained down on the constant upward stream of dragon knights, slicing them and whatever spells and attacks they attempted apart easily. And then, just when the battered remnants of the dragon knights retreated back to the relative safety of their ships, Louise said but a single word.

"_Explosion!"_

What happened next quite literally took my breath away.

Starting as a small speck of light from the center of the air fleet, it quickly began expanding outwards faster and faster. In the space of just a few seconds, it had grown large enough to absorb the first ship. In another handful of seconds, a second joined the first. And then, as I grabbed Louise and quickly began flying away from the ever-expanding sphere of light to avoid being swallowed up by it as well, the last three ships quickly followed the first two's fate.

I squinted as I glanced over my shoulder to witness the fate of Albion's fleet. The sphere of light had reached what appeared to be its maximum size. It was so massive that the word didn't even begin to accurately describe it. And yet, its silence, its bright light, and its sheer size seemed to command a sort of reverent awe to all those who bore witness to it.

And when the sphere of light vanished, the broken, fiery remnants of the air ships began raining down to the ground.

"Impressive power," I noted.

"It was the Void," Louise murmured, her voice thick with exhaustion. "The Founder's Prayer Book told me that I'm the user of the Void element. And that spell was the true form of my Explosion spell. Ha... I'm so tired... Do you think Siesta is alright?"

"I'm sure she is, Louise," I said as I began our descent to the ground. "Rest now. I'll find a place for us to land and take a break."

"Hey, Kazuma?"

"Yeah?"

"What was that you said about me not being of much use?" Louise murmured tiredly, but with a victorious smile.

I chuckled softly. "That was my mistake. You did a good job."

Whatever Louise mumbled in response was lost, as she quietly drifted off into a well deserved rest.


	10. Chapter 10 - The Spirit of Water

_Author's Note:_

_Alright! After a super short chapter comes a super long chapter! 23 pages, booyah!_

**-STORY START-**

"So it truly was you two that saved us from Albion," Henrietta said.

Three days after the Battle of Tarbes, Louise and I had received a message in the early morning from Henrietta herself to come to the palace immediately. So now, we stood before the princess in the palace's throne room, whereupon we were asked to explain our role in the battle.

"Yes, Your Highness," Louise affirmed. "The Founder's Prayer Book told me that I am a Void mage and showed me how to cast the Explosion spell." Louise paused for a moment as if she were considering something. Then she added, "Properly, that is."

"Merciful Brimir," Henrietta breathed as she collapsed back onto the throne rested her head by her temple on a few fingers in a gesture of deep thought.

I watched her impassively as a cold calculating look danced behind her eyes. It was clear that she was considering all the possible ways that this new information and asset could be used to help her and her country. But then, that cold look suddenly faltered, and then vanished. Henrietta closed her eyes and shook her head briefly, before opening them again and smiling at Louise.

"Louise, as both princess of Tristain and as Henrietta, your friend, I thank you for your actions in the Battle of Tarbes," Henrietta said warmly. "Because of the Tristanian victory, I have been able to negotiate an alliance with Germania without going through with the marriage. As such, I will be crowned as Queen of Tristain and its sole ruler in place of the canceled wedding."

Louise let out a pleased, victorious sound at that.

"But, my friend," Henrietta said a little more sorrowfully. "I am sorry, for though your actions deserve a reward at least of the magnitude of receiving territory the size of a small country and a title of duchess, I cannot reward you for your actions. Doing so would reveal your involvement, and thus your Void magic, which ought to remain a secret as much as possible."

"Why is that, Princess?" Louise frowned. "I want to use this power to help you and Tristain."

"To tell you the truth," Henrietta said, "I was considering how to best put your Void magic to use in benefiting the country just a moment ago. But Louise, you are my friend and I have absolutely no desire to put you into harms way. The moment your Void becomes public knowledge, you would be beset by enemies from all directions."

"I am not afraid of Reconquista," Louise declared.

Henrietta shook her head again. "It is not Reconquista I'm worried about," she said. "The external enemies are easy to deal with. What I fear for your sake are the enemies from within the country."

"What do you mean, Princess?" Louise asked with consternation on her face.

"At present, your involvement in the Battle of Tarbes is known to only a very few high ranking officials. Namely my personal adviser, Cardinal Mazarin, Agnes, and a few military generals," Henrietta said. "For the most part, I can trust these people. But imagine if other, less savory nobles knew of your Void powers? They would stop at nothing to claim you as their own, to use your powers for their own benefit." Henrietta turned to look at me briefly. "Imagine if someone like Mott got a hold of Louise."

I narrowed my eyes and nodded in understanding.

"Of course," Henrietta continued, "I am not telling you to forsake your gifts. To do so would be like spitting upon a gift bestowed upon you by the gods themselves, and has been given to only one other before: Founder Brimir."

"What should I do then, Princess?" Louise asked.

"I want you to be my court lady, Louise," Henrietta answered. "If you accept, you would obey only me, and will wield my authority wherever you go, whether it be in Tristain or in other countries."

"I accept, Your Highness!" Louise declared eagerly.

Henrietta nodded. "Come with me after we're done here and I'll give you the necessary documents." Henrietta once more shifted her gaze to me. "Now, as for you, Kazuma. Your own role has a far less pressing need of being concealed. You I can reward more openly. And, after consideration, I decided that a large sum of gold would be the most satisfactory reward for you."

"Most satisfactory indeed," I affirmed.

"As such, before you leave," Henrietta said, "you shall be awarded with 1,000 gold coins."

"... You know," I said casually, "This time, my role in the war truly cannot be understated. Why, if it wasn't for me, Louise wouldn't have been able to get close enough to use Explosion. And if she somehow did, the dragon knights would have simply killed her without me protecting her. Really, you can say that the current victory of Tristain is all thanks to me and that wouldn't be an exaggeration. Considering that, don't you think 1,000 gold coins is a number far too small?"

Henrietta narrowed her eyes at me, but said nothing.

"Of course, I'm willing to accept whatever reward you think is fair," I shrugged. "And if you think 1,000 gold coins is fair, that's fine. But you know, I can't guarantee that I'll feel the motivation to do anything for Tristain again in the future when my own services are so... shall we say... undervalued."

"Kazuma! Don't extort the princess!" Louise hissed. "And besides, weren't you the one who said 'the payment is their lives?'"

"This and that are different things," I scoffed.

"Very well then," Henrietta said finally and in a terse tone. "I'll reward you with twice the amount."

"Eh... I guess you don't really need my services in the future," I said.

"Three times."

"Good luck in the future."

"Fine," Henrietta growled. "I'll pay you 5,000 gold coins, but not a single coin higher."

I grinned. "Thanks for your business."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"I cannot believe you did that," Louise growled at me.

"It's simple business," I remarked as I set the bowl of water I had collected on the table in Louise's room. "I have to get as much money out of potential clients as possible."

"She's the _princess!"_ Louise said, outraged. "You can't just extort money from her like that!"

"But before she's a princess," I said, "she's just another person, another potential client. And if she wants to employ my services in the future, I need to know that my services will be payed enough for me to accept her contracts."

"Unbelievable," Louise shook her head. "Just... Unbelievable."

"Eh, well, don't worry about it too much," I said as the room's door opened and Siesta walked in with the bottle of Albionian wine I had sent her to get for me. "Thanks," I said as I received the wine.

Siesta bowed in a very maid-like manner and with a demure smile. Because Tarbes had been ruined so badly in the recent battle, Siesta had ended up cutting her vacation time short. After helping her family relocate to a nearby village, Siesta had returned to my service. Thanks to the small fortune (for a commoner) she had made as my very well paid maid, the transition had been very smooth for her and her family.

I gestured for her to sit at the table in front of the bowl of water and after taking a swig of the wine straight from the bottle, I began my lesson.

"The first thing to remember when we talk about spirits is that the spirits of each element generally tend to have certain personality traits," I lectured. "Fire is passion and rage. Earth is perseverance and stability. Wind is capriciousness and freedom. The more a Seirei Jutsushi shares the personality traits of their element, the more spirits they can gather and the stronger the magic they can cast. Conversely, the more different they are, the weaker they are. For example, an Enjutsushi that is so gentle and kind that he or she would not harm even a fly would find their Enjutsu far weaker than their more passionate peers."

"Why is that the case, Kazuma?" Siesta asked curiously.

"Think about it this way: when you have to work with someone, is it easier to work with someone whose personality agrees with you or with one whose personality clashes with you?"

"That would be the former," Siesta admitted.

"It's the same thing with spirits," I said. "You have to remember that the spirits are not just objects or tools you can make use of and throw away. You have to treat them like sentient beings with their own will."

"So what about water then?" Siesta asked. "What are water's personality traits?"

"Water is rather unique among the four elements," I said. "If I were to describe it, water would have the traits of volatility and purity. And that's because more than any of the other three elements, water changes the most. It can be as absolutely calm and peaceful as a still lake, or it can be as powerful as a raging tidal wave, or it can be as solid and cold as ice. Hence the volatility. Yet, despite the constant changes, it's still just water. They change, yet they do not change. They might take different forms, but they possess the same essence. And thus, the purity. Because of that, it doesn't really matter what kind of emotions you use, only that those emotions are pure and strong. Therefore, what kind of person you are will determine your field of expertise as a Suijutsushi."

"Now, the spirits tend to congregate to their appropriate elements. Fire spirits prefer hot places, earth spirits live in the earth, air spirits are everywhere where there is air," I pointed at the large bowl of water, "and water spirits tend to gather in bodies of water. Once you become more stronger and more skilled, you'll be able to gather water spirits straight from the air, but for now, try and make contact with the water spirits in that bowl. Concentrate and try to feel their presence."

Siesta nodded and closed her eyes as she placed her hands over the bowl of water. I watched the quietly concentrating Siesta for a moment before glancing over my shoulder to look at Louise who was also watching Siesta with a curiously conflicted expression.

On one hand, Siesta was Louise's friend, despite the status differences. And if her friend was improving herself in some way, then she was happy for the maid. On the other hand, there was still that status difference to consider. Nobles in Halkeginia were nobles because they could use magic. If a commoner learned to use magic then, well, what did that say about magic being an exclusively noble's art? Judging by Louise's expression, it seemed she was caught in between being happy and being indignant, causing her face to contort into a strange half-smile, half-frown.

"Kazuma. I think I can sense them," Siesta whispered softly, as if speaking any louder would break the tremulous link she had just formed with the water spirits. "What should I do now?"

"Talk to them through your thoughts, your will, and your intent," I said quietly. "And ask them to form a contract with you."

Siesta nodded as her mouth began moving ever so slightly as she unconsciously mouthed her conversation with the spirits. For a few minutes, this continued without pause and without change. Finally, Siesta opened her eyes and put her hands down.

Siesta looked at me with a smile and nodded. "I think I did it," the maid said.

"What was it like talking to spirits?" Louise asked her friend curiously.

"Strange," Siesta admitted. "It's as if they weren't speaking with words, but rather with raw emotions. They were so serene and calm and I think they were happy to talk to me. They agreed to make a contract with me."

"Congratulations," I said. "Now try asking the water spirits to lift the water in that bowl up into the air."

"Okay," Siesta said as her face screwed up in concentration.

For a moment, nothing happened. Then, the waters in the bowl began rippling as the water spirits answered Siesta's silent call. Slowly at first, small, trembling tendrils of water began reaching upwards. The tendrils became thicker, more stable, as the entirety of the water began forming into a globe of water the size of a head about five inches above the bowl. Then, after maintaining that globe for a solid minute, from the bottom of the sphere, water began trickling out in a controlled manner, as if someone had deliberately turned on a faucet to its lowest setting. In the space of three minutes, the globe of water continued to shrink as the water collected back into the bowl, until finally the floating globe of water vanished.

"Thank you, everyone," Siesta quietly whispered to the water spirits before turning to me with a smile. "How was that?"

"That was actually very impressive," I said honestly in a surprised tone. "Even if you are a descendent of the head family of the Sasaki clan, you are very talented to be able to form a contract and demonstrate that level of control on your first try, especially after only recently learning of the spirits' existence."

Siesta let out a pleased sound and her smile spread a little more broadly.

"Anyway, for now," I said, "keep practicing and learn to synchronize with your contracted water spirits better. As you get stronger, you'll naturally become able to contract more and more spirits."

Siesta nodded and turned her attention back to the bowl and began repeating her little exercise with the water, but this time more quickly and efficiently.

"I know you said that she could use magic," Louise whispered to me so as not to break Siesta's concentration, "but I must admit; I didn't think you were right. Even if she can't do much, it's still amazing she can use magic."

"Don't let looks deceive you," I whispered back. "Siesta is a descendent of the head family of one of the strongest clan of water mages in my world, which means she has a great deal of potential power. Sure she can't do much right now, but with time and practice, she could very easily become the equivalent of a square class water mage. Probably stronger."

"Huh," Louise let out, looking both impressed and annoyed. Clearly the thought of a commoner becoming stronger than the strongest level of nobles annoyed her, but again... Siesta _is _her friend. "Speaking of practice, I'm going to go and practice myself. Now that I've cast my first real Void spell, it seems I can use the other elements properly too. I want to make sure I'm caught up with everyone else before summer vacation is over."

"Alright," I nodded. "You need any help?"

"No," Louise replied. "I've attended all my classes for two years now. Even if I haven't been able to use magic properly during classes, I know all the steps and processes."

"Good luck then," I said.

With one last encouraging look at Siesta, Louise turned and silently slipped out of the room.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Phew," Siesta panted lightly as she leaned back in her chair and let out a breath of relief.

It had been nearly two hours since we had begun Siesta's lessons and Louise had left the room. During those two hours, Siesta had been practicing nonstop. And by the end of the lesson, Siesta had become able to synchronize with the water spirits far more adroitly than her first attempt. Now, such basic tasks as having her simply levitate the water wasn't even a challenge. Though she was still not ready to use her magic for practical applications, her quick progress was promising.

Furthermore, her progress was not a testament to her inborn talent as a Sasaki, but rather, a testament to the traits of Siesta herself. She was the type of person a teacher would kill to be allowed to teach, for her attitude was absolutely ideal in a student. Even with the dullest of tasks, Siesta practiced diligently and enthusiastically without slacking or complaining in the slightest.

And though her detractors (if she had any) might claim she is unintelligent because she isn't well educated, that was more because the culture of Halkeginia made it difficult for commoners to receive an education. In actuality, however, Siesta's mind was sharp and like a sponge, easily absorbing everything I taught her, only requiring me clarify occasionally. More importantly, her strong desire to learn made her work at least twice as hard as anyone else would have.

"Good job," I said. "After another one or two lessons, we can start having you contract more water spirits. At that point, depending on how many you can contract, I think we'll be able to start having you learn to use Suijutsu without a nearby body of water."

"That sounds great," Siesta said cheerfully.

It was then that the door to Louise's room opened and Louise stumbled in. Her face was flushed and she had a dreamy expression on her face. I frowned. Something was wrong.

"Louise?" I said tentatively. "You okay?"

The pink-haired girl looked at me for a moment. Then she began giggling.

"Fine, fine, I'm fine," Louise murmured as she walked over to me languidly before practically falling onto me. Taken by surprise, I instinctively caught her in my arms. "My, don't you think that it's really hot in here?" Louise said as she began fanning herself with her hand and panting hard. "How about you take me to bed and we can both cool off together?"

Okay. What the hell is going on here? And... What the? Did Louise just slap my butt?

"Louise!" Siesta cried out indignantly. "You can't do that! I was after Kazuma before you!"

Louise looked at Siesta, as if noticing her for the first time. "Hm... Well, since we're friends, I suppose it's alright if we reenact chapter 13 of The Duke and the Flower Girls."

Siesta's eyes went wide. "You don't mean... With all three of us?"

"Yes," Louise smiled and nodded slowly.

"And with the tea set, wine, broomsticks, and sweaters too?" Siesta's face was starting to flush a bright red now.

"Yes," Louise nodded again.

"Kya!" Siesta cried out excitedly, apparently having forgotten that I was here.

"As much as I'd love to engage in some kind of sex fantasy," I spoke up sarcastically, "I think we have bigger concerns right now, Siesta. Something is clearly wrong with Louise, so keep your head together."

"O-oh, right," Siesta said. The only reason why she wasn't blushing any more deeply was because her face had already become as red as they would become.

"What the hell happened to you, Louise?" I asked.

"I can tell you about what's _not_ happening to me right now," Louise pouted.

"I think she's probably taken a love potion," Siesta said with a frown.

"A love potion?" I frowned. "You guys really have those in Halkeginia?"

"Yes," Siesta nodded. "They're highly illegal though, so I would never use one on you, even if my cousin keeps telling me to... Uh, I mean... Nevermind!"

"Right..." I said, silently making a mental note to have a word or two with Siesta's cousin when I had the chance. "Alright. We're going to retrace her footsteps to see who the hell did this to her and how we can get it fixed."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Open up," I said as I rapped on the door before me. "Open up now, Montmorency."

Slowly, the door creaked open to reveal the blonde girl with ringlets, as well as Guiche sitting at a chair in the room. Though he looked surprised to see us, Montmorency looked nervous.

"What do you want, familiar?" Montmorency said, using an angry tone to cover up her nervousness.

I pointed at Louise, who was being restrained by Siesta, a mouth held over her mouth in order to prevent Louise from embarrassing herself further. "Louise drank the love potion you intended to give to Guiche. Fix her. Now."

"Eh?" Guiche said in shock at the sudden revelation.

"I don't know what you're talking about," Montmorency said and slammed the door in my face.

I closed my eyes and sighed and took a deep breath.

One. Two. Three.

The winds formed into blades and sliced the door apart into tiny blocks. With that out of the way, I strode into the room to a now thoroughly angered Montmorency and a shocked Guiche.

"Louise was practicing her magic in the Vestri Courtyard for exactly one hour and 54 minutes," I said. "On her way back to her room, she came across you and Guiche, who was about to drink a cup of Tristanian wine – a poor pick by the way. Albionian is much better - that you had just given him. Being thirsty, Louise asked Guiche if she could drink some of the wine first, to which Guiche generously allowed. Unfortunately, that wine was laced with a love potion you surreptitiously added to the wine from a vial you hid in your sleeve before you gave it to Guiche. Fortunately, Louise didn't meet anyone else after the potion's effect kicked in until she returned to her room, where the first person she saw was me."

"How the hell do you know all that?" Montmorency demanded. "Were you spying on us?"

"It doesn't matter how I know, just that I know," I said. "So you _will_ make a cure to this damn love potion of yours."

"I don't need to listen to you!" Montmorency said indignantly. "You're just a familiar!"

"Alright, fine," I said. "Nothing else for it. I'll just have to report this to the palace."

"W-wait what?" Montmorency's eyes went wide.

"After all, love potions are highly illegal," I said casually. "The way I hear it, using one on someone is enough of a crime to land you life in prison. Possibly even execution, depending on who you used the potion on. And seeing as how Louise is the daughter of the famous Valliere family..."

"You have no proof that it was me," Montmorency said nervously.

"No, I suppose I don't," I admitted. "You disposed of the vial used to perpetrate the act properly. But you know, Louise is a personal friend of Princess Henrietta, who also values my services quite highly. It will mean I owe her something, but she'd be more than willing to, shall we say, look the other way if I decide to take matters into my own hands."

"What are you talking about?" Montmorency narrowed her eyes.

In answer, an air blade flew past her, leaving a thin, red line on her cheek as it did, and slicing the bed behind her completely in two.

"That," I said in a dangerously quiet tone, "is what I mean."

Montmorency gulped fearfully.

"Monmon," Guiche said. "Is it true? Why did you use a love potion?"

"It's because of you!" Montmorency cried out. "You're always flirting with other girls and I couldn't stand that! So then I got jealous and wanted to make sure you only looked at me!"

"I don't care about your reasons," I said testily. "Fix. It. Now."

"Don't worry," Montmorency sighed. "It's only temporary."

That's good. Who knows what Louise might have tried to do to me if she remained like this too long. "How long?"

"About... six months to a year," Montmorency admitted.

My eyes narrowed coldly again and Guiche visibly blanched behind Montmorency.

"Then you are going to make the damn cure for her right now," a visible air blade formed beside me and hovered there as a quiet reminder of my threat, "or else."

"Alright, alright!" Montmorency said as she eyed the air blade warily. "I'm just missing one key ingredient: the Tears of the Water Spirit. They're too expensive for me to buy, but we can get one directly from the Water Spirit at Ragdorian Lake."

"Good," I said. "Let's go."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

I watched Montmorency carefully as she stood by the shores of Ragdorian Lake and began the ritual to call forth the Water Spirit that dwell within. After placing a drop of her blood on her frog familiar, she sent the amphibian into the lake and began speaking.

"O Great Spirit of Water who dwells in this lake," Montmorency said. "I am Montmorency Margarita la Fere de Montmorency. Through my lineage of water and in accordance with the ancient oath, I ask of you, if you can hear my words, answer in a way that we might understand."

For a moment, nothing happened. Then a wave of water surged from the center of the lake towards us, before completely stopping just before touching shore. The mass of water then began taking shape. The shape of a giant, nude Montmorency, to be precise.

"I have heard your calls, insignificant one," the Water Spirit said. "In accordance with the ancient oath, I have come forth. Speak."

"Great Water Spirit," Montmorency said. "We desire a piece of your body."

Oh. So the tear wasn't _actually_ a tear, but rather just a part of this water entity's body?

"Rejected," the water spirit said dismissively.

I frowned. That wasn't good. But that was alright. Montmorency would surely have foreseen this possibility since her family had a history of dealing with this Water Spirit and come with a plan or strategy to negotiate with it.

"Oh really?" Montmorency shrugged. "Well, thank you for your time then."

I gawked as Montmorency turned and walked over to us. Behind her, the water spirit was beginning to sink back into the lake.

"What are you doing?" I hissed angrily as I grabbed Montmorency by her shoulder as she tried to walk past me.

"I am _not_ going to do something that angers the water spirit," Montmorency hissed back. "I'd rather die than do that!"

"Argh! You incompetent little... Never mind. Just stand aside and let me do this," I growled as I roughly pushed Montmorency aside and walked up to the lake's shore and called out to the retreating water spirit. "Please wait!"

The Water Spirit stopped and turned towards me. Though it was impossible for me to read this entity's emotions, it felt as if she was being patient. That wasn't good. Being unable to read the emotions of the divine entity made it difficult to know how to negotiate with it.

More so than most other human beings on Earth, and probably on Halkeginia as well, I had a fairly sizable amount of experience in dealing with divine beings. And in my experience, there were generally three ways to get something from them.

The first was to beg and supplicate. There were divine entities out there that saw themselves so far above the puny humans that worship was natural and only to be expected. Feeding their ego in this manner could sometimes be enough to gain something from them.

The second was to make a deal with them. This was much more like a business transaction than an actual meeting between a divine entity and a mortal being. This method was generally the most straightforward, but could also be the most difficult and dangerous. After all, you never knew if the divine entity would ask you to do some kind of ridiculously impossible task that, in all likelihood, would get you killed. Or more frighteningly, this could easily become a Faustian deal.

The third was to earn their respect. Odysseus from Greek mythology is an excellent example of this method. He, through the virtue of his strength, courage, and intellect, impressed the goddess Athena enough so that she granted him her favor and aided him in his epic quest.

There was also a fourth way: be more powerful than the divine entity and force it to give what you want. But this tended to have very bad repercussions, so it was generally only a last resort.

Needless to say, I detest begging and I probably did not have enough time to figure out how to impress this difficult to read spirit. In other words, I would have to use the second method, and possibly resort to the fourth if negotiations failed.

"Great Water Spirit," I said. "Is there any way, any task that I can do for you so that you would change your mind about not giving us a piece of your body? We truly need it to create a cure for a very evil potion made by a very evil girl."

Montmorency glared at me at that last little jab.

The Water Spirit stared at me with an expression that was almost... curious?

"... So. A Blessed One appears," the Water Spirit rippled. "Very well, Blessed One. There is indeed a task you may do for me so that I might honor your request."

"What is it?" I asked.

"I am assaulted nightly by your kind," the Water Spirit informed me. "Repel these attackers and I shall grant you your boon."

I nodded. "Understood."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Hey, Kazuma," Guiche whispered from beside me. "I'm curious. What did the Water Spirit mean when it called you 'Blessed One?'"

"It's not important right now," I whispered dismissively.

"But you know, what's the big deal anyway?" Montmorency said as she glanced at Louise. "Who cares if the Zero drank some love potion? Really, you ought to just enjoy it while you can."

_Pa-ching!_

All of us, save for Louise, who had found herself suddenly freed and taken the chance to jump at me and start nibbling and kissing my neck, had our eyes wide open in shock.

Standing in front of Montmorency was Siesta, her hand open and held out across from her. That and the red mark on Montmorency's cheek served as evidence that, yes, none of us were imagining it. Siesta had really just slapped Montmorency.

"It's not a big deal?" Siesta said, visibly shaking with anger. "That isn't funny! Because of you, Miss Valliere is enslaved to the effects of the love potion! Even though she knows what she's doing, she's not even able to control herself! Because of you, Miss Valliere is a prisoner in her own body, forced to watch as her body behaves in manners repulsive to her! And you think this is not a big deal? You ought to be ashamed of yourself!"

I blinked as I unconsciously restrained Louise and forced her off of me. Wow. Love potions are a lot scarier than I had first thought. I decided to add onto my mental note to make that conversation with Siesta's cousin a very, very stern one.

"How dare you speak to me like that, commoner!" Montmorency said, outraged. "And how dare you strike me! You will be punished most severely for this!"

"No, she won't," I said.

"Oh yes she will," Montmorency spat. "She broke the law. A commoner is not allowed to strike a noble like she did."

"She is _my_ maid," I informed her calmly. "That means that she enjoys my protection. So I will kill anyone who tries to harm her. Besides," I shrugged, "she's right. This _is_ your fault and you should be ashamed of yourself for resorting to love potions instead of using honest methods to gain Guiche's love. Now be silent. I can sense them approaching. Stick to the plan."

The plan in question was very simple. Because Siesta was still insufficiently powerful enough to fight, she was to remain with Louise and make sure she was kept restrained. Montmorency, who admitted to be more of a healer than a fighter, was to also remain with them. This left just Guiche and I as the main combatants. I, being more powerful, would engage the attackers on my own. Guiche would remain hidden in the forest and stop anyone who tried to flee.

This plan didn't particularly sit well with me, since in a more normal situation, I would have preferred to allow Guiche and Siesta to do the fighting so that they could gain combat experience, while I remained as a backup. Unfortunately, since the goal of this little ordeal was to cure Louise of the stupid love potion, I had no choice but to take the lead role.

"They're here," I muttered.

Two cloaked figures, one very short and one much taller, approached the lake shore and drew a staff and a wand as they began chanting their spells. I did not wait at all to make my move. As soon as they began chanting, I propelled myself out of the copse we had been hiding in and attacked.

My first attack had been meant to slice the two cloaked figures into little pieces. But either because I had made too much noise launching my attack or because these two were simply skilled enough to react in time, or perhaps both, the short one had raised a wall of ice to defend the two from my attack.

Though the ice wall was shattered by my air blades, it had served its purpose in absorbing the energy of my attack. Thus, when the two made a half-rotation so that the tall one was facing me and launched a flurry of fireballs and the short was was preparing her next spell, they remained completely unharmed.

With an annoyed gesture, I swept the fireballs aside with a gust of wind. But before I could even think about attacking, the two had rotated out again. Once more the short mage was facing me, and she pointed her staff in my direction.

Because I had been preparing for an ice spell to come at me directly from the short mage, I failed to notice until too late the air around my head compressing into three tiny balls; one beneath my chin and one beside either temple.

"Shit!" I swore as I frantically tried to gather the wind spirits to form a defensive barrier around my head while at the same time trying to jump backwards to dodge.

It was too late, however, and the air bombs exploded before I could safely get out of range. My head shot upward as if I had just received a powerful uppercut. Another immediately followed by my temple, causing my head to snap to the side, before being sent snapping back to the other side by another explosion beside my other temple.

Fortunately, I had managed to gather just barely enough wind spirits in time to create a weak barrier around my head. This served as the minimum amount of protection necessary to prevent me from being knocked unconscious. But it left me dazed... and it also caused me to realize something about the identities of the enemies I was fighting.

With my ears still ringing and vision swimming, I spoke. "Tabitha? Is that you?"

The two, who had already begun rotating once more, froze.

"Darling?" the tall one said as the flaming redhead pulled back the hood of her cloak. Beside her, the petite blue-haired girl did the same.

"What are you doing here?" we all spoke at the same time.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Great Water Spirit," I said to the giant liquid Montmorency who had been once more summoned by the real Montmorency. "We have done as you have asked and stopped the attack on your shores. In accordance with our agreement, I ask that you grant us a piece of your body."

The Water Spirit rippled, causing the light to be captured in an iridescent manner by its body, before nodding once. A small piece of the Water Spirit, no bigger than the first digit of my pinky finger, broke off from its body and slowly floated into an awaiting vial held in Montmorency's hands.

As the Water Spirit began to sink back into the water of the lake, I called out to it once more.

"Please wait," I said. The divine entity paused and looked at me expectantly. "I have recently learned that the reason you were being assaulted is because you are raising the water level of your lake, flooding the surrounding lands that humans call home. As a result, they felt as if they had no other choice but to resort to attacking you. As it stands, there is no doubt that they will send others to finish what we have stopped tonight."

This piece of information seemed to anger the Water Spirit, because it began trembling and rippling in a restrained, but violent manner.

"Thus, might I ask for what purpose you are raising your shores and what I can do so that you might cease to do so?" I finished.

The Water Spirit rippled once more, before suddenly condensing into a more human-sized version of Montmorency. "In the manner of your mortal kin, two years ago I was robbed of my sacred treasure. I raise my shores now to reclaim what is mine."

I mentally face palmed myself. What kind of idiot would rob a divine entity of its treasure? That was like asking for it to punish all of humanity. After all, divine entities put up with mortal beings so long as they didn't seriously piss them off. Stealing a treasure from such an entity was one of the best ways of doing just that.

"If you swear to retrieve my treasure in my stead," the Water Spirit continued, "then I shall in turn once more lower my shores to their natural state."

"I understand," I said firmly. "Tell me what this treasure looks like, Great Water Spirit, and I shall retrieve it for you."

Another piece of the Water Spirit broke off and transformed into the appearance of a small ring. Though nearly colorless due to being composed of pure water, it nevertheless had enough details that I could make out what it looked like.

"It is called the Ring of Andvari, and it holds the ancient strength of water," the Spirit said. It paused, as if considering how best to put that in words I could comprehend. "It is what you mortals would consider giving a seeming of life to the dead."

Ugh. You mean to say that this ring can make zombies? Damn. I hate zombies. "Do you have any clues to help us begin our search, Great Spirit?"

"Only that the one who stole my treasure is known as Cromwell," the Spirit said.

"Cromwell? Isn't he the leader of Reconquista?" Guiche muttered.

"Yeah, I think so," Kirche affirmed. "Ew. Reconquista with an army of the dead? That just sounds disgusting."

"Thank you, Great Water Spirit," I said.

As we all turned to leave, however, the Water Spirit spoke of its own volition for the first time.

"Hold," the Water Spirit commanded.

Obediently, we all stopped and turned back around.

"I would speak with the one who bears the true lineage of water," the Water Spirit said.

The group stared at each other in confusion, wondering what this could be about, as Montmorency stepped forward to face the Spirit. From the way she was trembling slightly, to the cold sweat that was beginning to form on her brow, and to the way she swallowed down her nerves before speaking made it easy to tell that the blonde girl was afraid she had done something to seriously tick off the Water Spirit.

"Yes, Great Water Spirit?" Montmorency said tremulously.

"Not you, insignificant one," the Water Spirit said almost disdainfully. It pointed at Siesta. "You, who are of the true lineage of water, the one who bears the bloodline of a Blessed One of Water. Come forth."

With a shocked expression, Siesta numbly stepped forward as an equally shocked looking Montmorency stepped aside in a daze. The Water Spirit trembled slightly as it transformed from an impersonation of a naked Montmorency to a naked Siesta.

"I see... You have only recently awakened to heritage," the Water Spirit murmured. "Yet the spirits of water contracted to you already cling to you most strongly. And the power that is held within your blood as a descendent of a Blessed One of Water is strong and undiluted. Such potential... "

Siesta glanced aside to me ever so slightly, silently asking what was going on. I made a quick gesture for her to be quiet and wait until the Spirit was done speaking.

"Yes, I am most pleased to have met a descendent of one blessed by my king and who bears much potential," the Water Spirit nodded in a very human gesture of approval. "If thou wishes, form a contract with me and you shall gain the power of all the spirits of water under my command."

"What?" Montmorency blurted out. "Impossible! She's just a commoner! Even my family doesn't know how we created a contract in the first place!"

The Water Spirit turned to favor Montmorency with what I guessed was an icy look. Honestly, it was as difficult to read the divine entity as it was to try and decipher the meaning behind Tabitha's one word answers. "Do not profane the name of the holy contract, insignificant one. What your family and I shares is but an agreement. What I offer the descendent of a Blessed One of Water is a true contract."

After that, the Water Spirit turned back to Siesta and ignored the gawking Montmorency like a person might ignore a pebble on the roadside. Like Montmorency, however, the rest of the us (again, minus Louise who had once more freed herself and jumped on me) were also equally shocked. Even Tabitha, the perpetually emotionless girl looked genuinely surprised by the Water Spirit's words.

On my part, I was simply shocked that Siesta was about to get such a large power boost. From what I could tell, the Water Spirit of Ragdorian Lake had a vast amount of power. If Siesta formed a contract with it, then she would gain raw power easily surpassing that of a square class water mage in a single shot. Of course, she would have to train a lot to learn to control and utilize even a portion of that power, but still, it was a near miracle that the Water Spirit voluntarily offered to create a contract with Siesta.

Siesta glanced at me again and I nodded in encouragement.

Steeling herself, Siesta turned back to the waiting Water Spirit and said, "Yes, I will form a contract with you."

Wordlessly, the Water Spirit raised one arm, and then it stretched and elongated like rubber until the tip of its index finger touched Siesta's forehead. From the spot where water met flesh, a bright cerulean light flashed for a moment before disappearing.

"The contract is formed, Siesta, descendent of a Blessed One of Water," the Water Spirit announced.

"Thank you, Great Spirit," Siesta said respectfully, but earnestly. "I promise not to misuse the power you have granted me."

"As you will," the Spirit said as it began sinking into the depths of the lake.

For the second time, however, someone called out to the Spirit and bade it to stop. This time it wasn't me.

"Please wait, Great Water Spirit," Tabitha said. The Spirit turned around and... Well, it didn't _look_ impatient and annoyed, but I could somehow just sense that it was. Perhaps it was the way that its body rippled or how its expression rapidly changed from one to the other? "We humans have long called you the Spirit of Oath. Why is that?"

"I know not why your kind has named me as such, insignificant one. Our existences are far too dissimilar for me to truly understand," the Spirit said. "But if I were to speculate, it would be because of my very existence. For one such as I, time has no meaning. The past, the present, the future. The part and the whole. The instant and the eternity. All are the same to me. And though I may not have a fixed form, I shall never change for all time."

"Because you are eternally unchanging, you will always carry our hopes and prayers within you," Tabitha murmured softly before dropping down to one knee and clasping her hands and closing her eyes in prayer.

Kirche came up behind Tabitha quietly and placed a hand on her friend's shoulder, her expression somber. As Tabitha prayed, the Water Spirit watched silently, and it wasn't until a few minutes later, after Tabitha opened her eyes and stood back up that the Water Spirit vanished into its lake.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"You know it's not your fault," I sighed exasperatedly as I looked at Louise who was sitting curled up at the far end of the bench we were sitting on. Standing beside me, Siesta was looking at Louise with concern. "Although... Your offer to Siesta to reenact chapter 13 of The Duke and the Flower Girls was pretty interesting."

Louise groaned in a strange, wordless, guttural noise. "Stupid maid. Stupid, stupid books..."

"Miss Valliere," Siesta said soothingly as she went over to Louise and put a gentle hand on her shoulder. "It's alright. Nobody else saw you while you were under the love potion's effects, and you didn't even do anything bad! We realized what happened before you could do anything."

Louise glanced up briefly at Siesta, before once more assuming a fetal position and moaned piteously.

"By the way," Siesta leaned in and whispered quietly. "I recently got the latest book, The Dragon Knights Night of Passion. If you want, I can let you read it first."

"... Yes, please," Louise said, finally looking at us properly. Or at least, looking at Siesta properly. She still refused to meet my eyes. "You're a good friend, Siesta. Thank you for what you said to Montmorency."

"It's no problem at all, Miss Valliere," Siesta said happily.

"Ha... Ragdorian Lake," Louise leaned back against the bench. "It brings back memories. It's where Prince Wales and Princess Henrietta first met during a garden party, you know. The princess had me sleep in her bed while she sneaked out to rendezvous with the prince at night."

"That's it!" a voice from behind us suddenly declared.

"Hello, Kirche," I remarked casually.

"Kirche!" Louise said angrily. "Why are you spying on us?"

"Aw, don't be like that, Louise," Kirche said as she climbed out of the bush she had been hiding in, dragging Tabitha along behind her, who, with an impassive expression, was stubbornly reading a book. "I just wanted to see you and darling reconcile."

"What did you mean by 'that's it?'" I asked.

"Prince Wales," Kirche said. "Tabitha and I passed by him when we were going to Ragdorian Lake. I only just realized that it was him."

Louise and I both froze.

"That's impossible," Louise shook her head slowly. "The Prince should have met his death while defending Newcastle a couple of months ago."

"Eh? Really?" Kirche cocked her head. "But I'm sure that when I saw him he looked alive..." Kirche's eyes went wide. "Unless..."

Louise and I nodded as we came to the same conclusion.

"Unless somebody used the Ring of Andvari on him," Louise breathed. "Quick, Kirche. Where was Prince Wales going?"

"He was headed to Tristania," Kirche answered promptly.

Louise hissed. "The princess!"

**-SCENE BREAK-**

Thanks to Syphid, who flew at speeds faster than what even I could manage normally even while carrying all five of us on its back, it had not taken us long to get to the palace, which was in absolute chaos at the sudden disappearance of Princess Henrietta. There, Louise had used the documents that Henrietta had given her that proved her to be the princess's court lady in order to extract the necessary information from the guards.

The kidnappers, it seemed, were fleeing towards La Rochelle. Every available force had been mobilized in searching for the missing princess. And just in case the kidnappers attempted to pull a fast one, the rescue parties had been sent out in nearly every direction, in order to cover every single possible way out of the country.

Because of that, we decided to simply head straight for La Rochelle. It was the most likely place they would flee towards, as it was the closest port town to Albion.

And once more, thanks to Sylphid's amazing speed, we were fast approaching La Rochelle. Littering the ground leading up to it, however, were corpses of both man and griffin. Tabitha patted Sylphid gently on the neck and whispered something into its ear. The dragon nodded and descended to the ground gracefully, and we all climbed off to begin investigating the scene of carnage.

"These men were only recently killed," Kirche noted as she studied the severed limb of a dead griffin knight. I narrowed my eyes as I sensed the presence of eight others moving around us, hidden from plain sight. "They shouldn't have gotten far."

"They're here," I said. "Incoming!"

A rain of fire, water, earth, and air fell down on us from all directions. I immediately reacted by raising a dome of wind around us, and though the magical assault beat upon my kekkai, they made no headway in destroying it.

Seeing that their attacks were futile, the eight attackers revealed themselves in a circle that surrounded us. Standing together at the head was Prince Wales and Princess Henrietta.

"Princess!" Louise cried. "We've come to rescue you!"

The prince laughed coldly. "Rescue? There can be no rescue, for Princess Henrietta comes with us willingly."

"That's impossible!" Louise declared. "There is no way the princess would abandon her country for a moving corpse like you!"

"It's true, Louise," Henrietta said dreamily. "I want to be with my love. Please leave us be."

"Princess? What are you saying?" Louise said. "He's not your love! He's the revenant of Prince Wales sent by Reconquista!"

Henrietta shook her head languidly. "You don't understand, Louise. You've never loved someone so strongly that you're willing to throw away everything you own in order to be with him for just a second longer. You've never loved so strongly that it doesn't matter what happens or happened to the one you loved, only that you can be with them for just a little longer. You've never experienced that. Therefore, Louise, this is my last order to you as your princess. Let us pass through this place without trouble."

Louise opened her mouth, but no sound came out. I could practically hear the thoughts running through Louise's head.

"_If that's how Princess Henrietta truly feels, how can I possibly stop them?"_

As Wales and Henrietta's group began to turn to leave, however, I called out to them.

"Where do you think you guys are going?" I said loudly. "I'm taking Henrietta back with us."

"Didn't you hear me, Kazuma?" Henrietta said. "I am ordering you to let us pass."

I chuckled and shook my head. "Unfortunately, Princess, there are two problems with that. The first is that I am not your subordinate. You can't tell me to do anything without proper payment. The second is that since this isn't really you speaking, I don't give a damn about how you feel or what you think at the moment. I'm going to capture you and bring you back to Tristain. Then, when you wake up, you're going to be so damn grateful to me that you're going to pay me at least 100,000 gold coins."

"Wait, what are you talking about, Kazuma?" Louise said sharply. "What do you mean that this isn't really the princess speaking?"

"Don't you remember how you were drugged by Wardes into saying and doing exactly what he wanted?" I said. "Don't you think think that the way Henrietta is acting right now seems awfully similar to how you did back then?"

I couldn't help but wonder if these types of potions were made precisely for these kinds of sinister purposes. It was definitely very convenient for anyone who wanted to take someone away without resorting to brute force.

Louise's eyes widened, and then narrowed angrily. "Reconquista, you scum! Return the princess now!"

"... I had hoped it wouldn't come to this," Henrietta said softly. "Men. Attack."

The human body has much greater power than it normally demonstrates. But the reason why it doesn't demonstrate that potential power normally is because if the body used its full power all the time, it would very quickly break down. Thus, the brain puts natural limits on the capabilities of the body, removing them only in times of extreme emergencies.

Being dead, however, removed the need for those limits.

The six undead nobles moved with unnatural speed as they closed in on us with predatory swiftness and grace. Using their swordwands clad in fire or lightning, they attempted to cut us down from close range.

However, before they could get in striking range, my air blades cut them apart at their waist, and the halves of the undead fell to the ground with a meaty thud.

But instead of dying again, the corpses simply stuck themselves to their lower halves and stood back up, having completely regenerated from my attack. Ugh. Regenerating and fast zombies that could still use magic and swordsmanship? I pray to every god in existence, in this world or another, that these zombies couldn't infect us and turn us into one of them by biting us.

"_Incinerate!"_ Kirche chanted, causing one of the undead nobles to spontaneously burst into flames and it shrieked in agony as it burned into ashes. "Fire is effective, everyone! Pin them down while I burn them!"

And then, as if the universe itself had a perverse sense of humor, it began to rain.

It came as a sprinkling shower at first, but quickly transformed into a heavy downpour. At this, Henrietta laughed loudly.

"Ah, dammit," Kirche sighed.

"The heavens favor us!" Henrietta declared. "A water mage is invincible in the rain!"

Henrietta waved her wand, causing water to form around the undead nobles as a suit of armor made of water.

"I'm guessing you can't use your fire magic in this rain, can you?" I said.

"Nope," Kirche confirmed. "The rain would just douse whatever I cast the moment I try it."

I sighed inwardly, wishing for the first time that we had an Enjutsushi on our side. An Enjutsushi could have burned these undead to ashes even in this rain. Now then... How should I do this? I suppose I could try to chop these corpses up into such tiny pieces that I utterly destroy them beyond the point of regeneration, but there was no guarantee that would actually work.

"Everyone!" Louise said. "Keep me safe while I cast my spell!"

I glanced over my shoulder briefly to look at Louise who had the Founder's Prayer Book in her hand. After the Battle of Tarbes, Louise had never allowed the book to leave her person, carrying it on her almost religiously. It seems that even during her love addled state of mind, that had not changed. And like during the Battle of Tarbes, the book was shining brightly. As Louise began chanting in low tones, I could feel her words flowing through me, empowering my resolve and courage.

As if they could sense the danger of allowing Louise to finish her spell, the undead nobles attacked, concentrating everything they had on Louise. I reacted swiftly, cutting them into halves with my air blades. And then, before they could regenerate, I launched even more air blades. Dozens, no, hundreds of air blades. Yet, even after being cut into tiny, bite-sized pieces, they easily regenerated completely, like slime youma.

But that had been enough of a pause for Tabitha to prepare and launch a flurry of ice spears at the undead, staking each of them to the ground and completely immobilizing them. At the same time, however, Henrietta and Wales were preparing their own spectacularly powerful spell.

I had learned once before that the mages in this world could combine elements to form new elements or make spells stronger. Tabitha used wind and water to create ice. Kirche, however, simply stacked fire with fire to make it an even stronger fire. The amount of elements they could combine or stack upon each other was what determined a mage's rank. Dot mages could only use one element, line mages could use two or stack it twice, triangle mages could use three or stack it thrice, and square class mages could use all the elements or stack elements four times.

What Henrietta and Wales were doing was using three parts wind element and three parts water element to form what could be called the equivalent of a hexagon level spell.

I had seen twice before the level of power a square class mage could have. Foquet had created a golem of a size unthinkable on Earth and Wardes definitely had great skills and had been actually a very powerful mage.

What Henrietta and Wales were making made those two look like pathetic amateurs in comparison. A massive tornado of water had formed in front of them, on a scale as large and as powerful as a true natural disaster.

"Great Brimir..." Kirche said in a tone equal parts awed and frightened.

Beside her, Tabitha and Siesta simply nodded in agreement.

Well then. How should I deal with this? Create a tornado as large as theirs and with a rotation counter to their own in order to cancel it? Perhaps squash it from above using a downburst? Hm... The latter would definitely be much easier, but the former would prove to be an excellent training opportunity for Siesta.

In times of distress and emergency, humans were capable of breaking past the limits placed on their body by their brain. This was the same for magic as well. When in desperate situations, a person's concentration would sharpen and become capable of casting magic far more adroitly and with far more power than they had ever done before. In this manner, they could make years of progress in an instant.

Of course, that was assuming that they didn't just freeze up and get killed instead.

"Siesta," I said. "A water mage is supposed to be invincible in the rain. Let's show them that they're not the only ones with a water and wind mage. Follow my lead."

I raised one hand straight up into the air, using it as a focal point to gather the wind spirits. Suddenly, a tornado every bit as massive as Henrietta and Wale's sprang up in front of us.

"Siesta," I said. "Add in as many of your water spirits you can in the same shape and with the same spin as my tornado. We'll crush theirs together."

The Suijutsushi blinked at me. Then a smile spread across her face and she nodded. "Understood, Kazuma!" Siesta clasped her hands in front of her, as if in prayer, and murmured, "Spirits of water..."

With her newly formed contract with the Water Spirit of Ragdorian Lake, Siesta had become able to draw in exponentially more water spirits than she had before. And because it was raining heavily, there was an abundance of water spirits for her to call forth. These two things combined meant that when Siesta summoned the water spirits, they had taken shape as a waterspout every bit as large as either of the other two tornadoes.

And after Siesta's water and my wind combined, we unleashed it on the royals' spell. The two tornadoes of water met in a collision of nature. The sound of screeching wind and roaring water drowning out any other sound we might have tried to make, and for a moment, the two tornadoes were in a stalemate, pushing against each other without gain. Then, though slowly at first, the royals' tornado of water began to slow and weaken. Then, as it lost more and more power to mine and Siesta's tornado of water, it began shrinking until it eventually dispersed, leaving our tornado standing proudly as the winner.

"No!" Wales shouted furiously. "No! Henrietta, my love! Again! Let us do this again!"

"_Dispel!"_ Louise cried out.

An iridescent wave flowed from Louise's wand. As it swept past us, each of the undead nobles groaned and ceased to move, and their water armors and the ice spears staking them broke and melted apart into puddles of water. Even mine and Siesta's tornado of water suddenly broke apart and dispersed into nothingness. And when it reached Wales and Henrietta, it caused both of them to collapse to the ground, unconscious.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Princess Henrietta. Wake up."

Henrietta moaned softly as she slowly blinked her eyes open.

"Kazuma?" Henrietta said as she sat up slowly. "What...?"

Though her mind was still cloudy and she still felt dizzy, the events of what had occurred came to her mind quickly.

"That's right... Wales sneaked into the palace and drugged me to make me obey him," Henrietta murmured as she rubbed her head. "He was going to kidnap me and take me to Albion..."

"Yes," Kazuma said. "But don't blame him. It was Reconquista's fault. They took his corpse and raised it as a revenant under their control with a magic ring."

"I see," Henrietta said darkly. "Damn Reconquista bastards. I swear they'll pay for this."

"But that's not important right now," Kazuma said quickly. "Wales is still alive for just a little longer, and he has regained his free will. Go speak with him."

"What?" Henrietta's eyes went wide as she quickly looked around and found Wales lying not too far beside her. She quickly scooted over to him and clasped his hand. "Wales. Is it really you this time?"

"Yes it is, Ann," Wales murmured painfully. Now that he was freed from Reconquista's control, it seemed that his regenerating powers had vanished as well, for blood was pouring out of several large wounds across his body. Wounds that he no doubt received in his final defense of Newcastle. "I'm sorry for hurting you like this, my love. Forgive me."

Henrietta smiled as silent tears began flowing down her face. "It's not your fault, love," Henrietta said. "It's Reconquista's."

"Thank you," Wales whispered. "I don't know why I'm thinking of this, but do you remember our last conversation at Ragdorian Lake?"

"I do," Henrietta nodded. "We talked about how nice it would be if we could just throw away our title of royalty and find a nice quiet home to live in, just the two of us. A small house anywhere, the location did not matter, and with a garden with a flower bed for me to raise flowers in."

"Yes," Wales said quietly, tears of his own trickling down his cheeks. "But we both knew that would never happen."

"Indeed," Henrietta agreed sadly. "Our duties to our respective countries were too great for us to simply throw aside selfishly."

"Despite that, I have never once regretted being born a prince," Wales admitted. "For if I had not, I surely would not have ever met you, my love."

"I feel the same," Henrietta said.

Wales coughed, causing flecks of blood to scatter along his chest and more blood to dribble down his jaw. His skin was pallor and his eyes sunken.

"I'll be returning to the grave soon, my love," Wales murmured. "So I have one last request."

"Anything. Ask of me for anything."

"I want you to forget about me."

"That is... impossible."

"And I want you to find another man to love."

"That is also... impossible."

"Oh, Ann," Wales said softly. "Your love is too good, too joyous for a dead man to steal for himself. Swear to me that you'll share it once more with another man. Please swear it lest my soul wanders without rest for all eternity."

"I cannot swear to that," Henrietta shook her head, her face wet from the tears flowing steadily from her eyes. "I can never forget you, my love."

"Ann, please," Wales pleaded weakly, but desperately. "I can feel death coming for me again soon. Before I go, please swear it!"

Henrietta closed her eyes. Slowly, in an almost imperceptible motion, she nodded her head. "I swear it."

"Thank you..." Wales murmured as he slowly closed his eyes and ceased to move.

And in that still rainy night, only the sound of Henrietta's mournful cry mingling with the tears of the heavens could be heard.


	11. Chapter 11 - The Charming Fairies Inn

_Author's Note:_

_Alrighty. So it seems quite a bit of people did not much like how Tabitha managed to catch Kazuma off guard in the last chapter, so I figured I'd address that right now. _

_Truth is that I was initially planning on having Kazuma just kinda steamroll through that fight, but when I was writing it, I thought to myself, "Well wait a minute. If Kazuma wins, he would just kill those two." After all, if he won, why in the world would he allow those two to live? He's not the kind of person who would spare his enemies. _

_Sure, some people might say that Kazuma would keep them alive to question them as to why they were attacking the Water Spirit, but it's already been shown in KnS that Kazuma is not the type of person who cares about that kind of stuff. It's not his problem why the Water Spirit is being attacked. He only cares about killing those two to get the Tear. Therefore, he doesn't care about their reasons and will not let the attackers live. It would be rather out of character for him to suddenly decide to spare them. And seeing as how I need those two alive for the future, I couldn't just kill them off at this point._

_Thus, I took my cue from a scene in KnS. In that scene, Kazuma nearly dies to a surprise attack from Ayano after Ren is kidnapped and he goes to meet Juugo Kannagi. Had Juugo not intervened, Ayano would have killed or at least severely injured Kazuma then and there. After all, in the end, as almighty as Kazuma is, he's still just a human, and therefore he makes human mistakes._

_I'll admit that the fight was kind of an OOC moment for Kazuma, and in retrospect, I probably could have written that scene better, but at the time of writing it, that way seemed like the best course of action._

_Now, all that being said, there is something else I want to talk about. In KnS, a Jutsushi simply cannot be harmed by their element except by a sufficiently strong enough force, plus one or two other exceptions. For example, an Enjutsushi can't be hurt by fire and a Fuujutsushi can't be harmed by wind, but someone from the branch family of the Kannagi family could be easily burned to death by someone like Genma, from the head family. _

_But in this fic, instead of being straight up immune to their element, Jutsushis will only have the ability to wrest control of the spirits being used or are simply present in the spell, thereby nullifying it. It's an ability which, if I recall correctly, is canon in KnS. To use an example, in the last chapter, had Kazuma noticed the air bombs just a little bit more quickly, he could have easily stopped them by forcibly stealing control over that air from Tabitha. But since he didn't, he was still harmed by it._

_The reason I'm doing that is because when it comes time for him to fight Karin, I really don't want Kazuma to just be like "Lololol. You're a wind mage and I'm a Fuujutsushi, so you can't hurt me at all cause I'm immune to all your spells." Speaking of the Karin fight, spoilers, it's gonna be in about 2 or 3 more chapters. At least, that's the plan.  
_

**-STORY START-**

"Hey, Siesta," Louise called out from her seat on the warm, sunlit grass. "How come you haven't gone to visit your family for summer vacation?"

It had been a week since the incident of Henrietta's kidnapping, and with summer vacation in full swing, the Academy had turned into a near ghost town. Of those that remained here, they could be classified into three groups: the students who, for one reason or another, could not or chose not to go back home, the skeleton crew of servants necessary to maintain the Academy, and the teachers who volunteered to stay behind to watch over them both.

Siesta glanced over her shoulder, pausing briefly from her Suijutsu practice, and said, "I am Kazuma's maid. I cannot simply leave because it's summer vacation."

"No, well, if you want to go visit your family, it's not like I'm going to force you to stay," I said from where I sat beside Louise.

"It's fine, it's fine," Siesta said in a singsong voice as she returned her attention to the mass of water she was keeping floating in the air through her will. "I'm staying because I want too."

"Well, if you're okay with it, I suppose it's fine," I shrugged nonchalantly. "By the way, Louise, how come you're not going back home either?"

Louise shuddered briefly, as if the very mention of that thought frightened her.

"Because big sister Eleanore will be there," Louise admitted. "And besides, I'm making real progress in bringing my basic magic up to level, and I want to be able to surprise my family before I go back."

"The Void is supposed to be legendary, isn't it?" I point out. "That should be enough to surprise them."

"No," Louise shook her head. "Queen Henrietta wants to keep my status as a Void mage a secret. Unless she tells me it's okay, I won't tell even my family."

I shrugged again and then lay back on the grass, quietly soaking in the warm rays of the sun and feeling the gentle breeze tickle against my skin. With my eyes only half open, I kept a lazy watch on Siesta. Still dressed in her maid outfit, she was working diligently at manipulating a bathtub's worth of water. By splitting that mass of water into several smaller orbs, ten of them to be precise, and individually changing their forms as freely and independently from the other orbs as possible, she was forced to train her ability to synchronize with her water spirits, tuning her senses to theirs and learning to work with them more adroitly.

In a way, learning to use Seirei Jutsu is like a person learning to properly control their physical body. This was because the spirits, once contracted, essentially _are_ an extension of the body, as real and substantial as an arm or a leg. Thus, for Siesta, an amateur Jutsushi already matured into womanhood, this was akin to learning how to use her own body all over again.

Well... No, that wasn't quite correct. She had long since moved past that stage of development already. Though she could not access the same amount of power and skill she had used during the fight with zombie Wales and his undead guard, she had still improved by leaps and bounds. No longer was she struggling to have basic control over her magic, now she was learning to master that control.

If I had to put it into perspective, it was as if she had grown from a toddler's level of control and development of their own body all the way to that of an adolescent's in an instant. Though she still wasn't fully developed as a Jutsushi yet, she had reached the point where she could begin doing more useful and difficult things with her Suijutsu.

I glanced up skyward as I felt something fly towards us. An owl, it seemed. And it was carrying a couple of packages.

"Louise," I said as I pointed at the direction the flying beast was coming towards us from.

Louise followed my finger and finally noticed the owl as well. The owl landed on the grass and hopped towards the pink-haired girl and held out one leg. Tied to that leg were two small, sealed scrolls. With a frown, Louise untied the parchments from the bared leg and took them from the owl. Its job now accomplished, the owl hooted happily and flapped its wings once before taking off into the air again.

After breaking the seal on the first scroll, Louise unfurled it and her eyes quickly flicked across the paper. Then she repeated the action with the second scroll.

"It's from Queen Henrietta," Louise stated. "She has a mission for us."

"Did she say how much she'll be paying me?" I asked seriously.

"1000 gold coins," Louise answered as she pointed at the second scroll. "That's a cheque you can redeem with her later to receive your payment."

"And what exactly is the mission?" I asked. "If I think 1000 gold coins is too little of a payment for the job, then I'm going to refuse."

"Hm... Well, you know how Albion lost to Tristain at the Battle of Tarbes?" Louise said.

"I know it well. I was there. So were you," I replied sarcastically. "And technically speaking, they didn't lose to Tristain. They lost to you and me."

Louise brushed past my sarcasm and ignored my jibe and continued. "Because of that, Albion lost a huge part of their air power, so they're not actually capable of making a proper invasion anymore. So instead of trying to fight a conventional war, they're now resorting to irregular warfare. Basically, Albion is aiming to undermine Queen Henrietta's authority and incite a rebellion in Tristain which they can take advantage of."

"I see," I said thoughtfully. "So? What does Henrietta want us to do?"

"_Queen_ Henrietta," Louise said, "wants us to go undercover and begin gathering information. She wants us to listen to rumors, find out what the commoners are thinking and saying, and learn just how she is thought of by the general populace."

"So basically she wants us to spy on the people," I said bluntly.

"Essentially, yes," Louise confirmed. "But compared to the other tasks we've done for the queen, this should be easy."

"Normally, it might," I agreed. "But for you? This is probably going to be harder than infiltrating Albion, the Battle of Tarbes, and rescuing Henrietta all put together."

"_Queen_ Henrietta," Louise corrected me again as she narrowed her eyes. "And what do you mean? Are you looking down on me?"

I shrugged. "Well, tell me something. How would you go about accomplishing this mission?"

"How?" Louise cocked her head quizzically at the question. "What do you mean how? I'd go into Tristania, ask a few of the commoners about what they think of the benevolent queen and have them answer me."

I sighed and palmed my face in exasperation. "And that's what I mean. If you, a noble, ask that, every commoner you meet will simply praise Henrietta, even if they don't actually like her. Here, let me show you." I turned towards Siesta and called out to her. "Siesta! Come here for a moment!"

The Suijutsushi quickly gathered her water together and kept them afloat as a single perfect sphere as she hurried over to us.

"Yes, Kazuma?" Siesta asked.

"Let's pretend for a moment that I never came to this world and that you're not a Suijutsushi," I said. "If a noble, say Mott for example, were to come up to you and ask what you think about him or someone he is highly loyal to, how would you answer?"

"I would answer that they are a good, strong noble, and praise their virtues," Siesta answered.

"And would you actually mean it?" I asked. "Or would it just be a lie?"

"No. It would be a lie," Siesta answered promptly. "Even if the one asking me was a disgusting man like Mott, I would still answer that way. I would have no choice _but_ to answer like that. Otherwise, they would punish me terribly somehow."

I turned back to Louise. "See? If you, as a noble, ask a commoner for their opinions, they're not going to tell you what _they_ really think. They're going to tell you what _you_ want to hear. And you would be doing Henrietta a grave disservice if that's what you report."

"But that's not a fair comparison," Louise frowned. "Lord Mott did was going to do something really bad to Siesta, which made her hate him. I haven't done anything that would make the commoners think that way about me."

Once more I turned to my maid. "Siesta?"

"Most commoners dislike all nobles, and many actively hate them," Siesta said. "Generally, nobles that are liked are the exception rather than the rule. I like you, Miss Valliere, but I myself still detest most other nobles. They tend to be rotten people."

"Siesta!" Louise said indignantly.

But before she could speak any further, I cut her off. "Don't bother getting angry about it, Louise. What you think or feel about the matter won't change that fact. Nobles, at large, are simply not well liked by commoners. So unless you want to deliberately feed Henrietta false information, your plan isn't going to work."

"Alright," Louise grumbled resignedly. "Then what do you think I should do?"

"It just so happens that we have a person with us that actually _is_ a commoner, and thus knows exactly how to blend in with them," I said casually. "That person could teach you the skills necessary to do this job properly."

"You mean... Siesta?" Louise said. She shook her head. "No, we can't do that. We've already said far more than we were supposed to in front of her. This is a mission meant for the two of us. We can't just arbitrarily bring in a third person."

"It's fine," I said as I waved one hand airily. "Siesta can keep a secret and will be important if you want to accomplish this mission properly." I gave Louise a level look. "You _do_ want to accomplish this properly, right?"

Louise bit her lower lip as she internally debated my proposed plan of action. Finally, she nodded once. "Fine. Siesta, do you understand what's going on?"

"For the most part," Siesta nodded. "The queen asked you to find out what we commoners think about her, correct?"

"Yes," Louise nodded. "Therefore, we'll need a place to stay while we begin our operations. There's a hotel called the Jeweled Manticore Hotel that we can stay in. Many visiting nobles use it, and its service is supposed to be excellent."

"Rejected," I said instantly.

"What? Why?" Louise said incredulously.

"What's the purpose of blending in as commoners if you're just going to separate yourself from them?" I rolled my eyes. "Besides, commoners are not blind nor stupid. If you keep going in and out of that hotel, it won't take long for your status as an undercover noble to be uncovered."

"Then where else would we sleep and eat?" Louise demanded.

"I think I know just the place to go," Siesta interjected.

"Where's that?" I asked.

"It's called the Charming Fairies Inn," Siesta said. "My cousin and uncle run the place. I've worked there a few times before, so I can say from firsthand experience that that place has a tendency to loosen a person's lips quite easily."

"Your cousin, eh?" I narrowed my eyes. I haven't forgotten the promise to myself to have a very stern talk with that cousin about the immorality of love potions. "Alright, let's go. At the very least we can take a look at the place."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"So this is the Charming Fairies Inn," I noted as I looked around the place. I struggled to find the proper words to describe the inn. It wasn't a strip bar or a brothel. On the other hand, it wasn't exactly a prim and proper place. In short, it was a seedy place.

Actually, haven't I heard of places just like this in Japan? Hm... What was it again?

Oh, I know. This is almost _exactly _like one of those maid cafes back in Akihabara. It's employees were all attractive young women and wore a maid's outfit, just like Siesta did when at the Academy. Unlike Siesta's uniform, however, these maid outfits were far more provocative and fetishized, revealing much of its wearer's skin in a manner just shy of reaching indecent, but well beyond the point of being fantasy material.

Yes, I could see how this place would loosen a person's lips, or at least a man's lips. Pretty women in sexy clothes serving alcohol? That had a tendency to make any man talk.

"And you said you've worked here before?" I couldn't help but ask. Somehow, I couldn't see the kindly Siesta dressed in those clothes, serving alcohol and flirting with the customers in order to fleece as much money as possible from them.

"Please don't tease me," Siesta blushed and glanced away. "It was a part-time job, and it was only because my cousin told me they needed some extra help."

"T-t-t-t-this is i-i-i-indecent!" Louise declared, her face blushing far more furiously than Siesta's. "How could you even suggest using this place, Siesta?"

"No, this place is perfect," I told Louise. "In fact, for what you want to do, there isn't a better place than this."

Before I could elaborate on my reasoning, a voice called out to us above the din of the inn's occupants.

"Cousin Siesta!"

Siesta turned to look at a girl with hair as black as hers, but longer and tied back by a white bandana on her head, and dressed in a green dress with a low cut that revealed her large cleavage.

"Cousin Jessica!" Siesta greeted happily as the two hugged. "How have you and Uncle Scarron been?"

"Oh, you know," Jessica grinned, "Same old, same old. What are you doing here though? And... Oh! You brought a man!" Jessica looked me over up and down, and then nodded. "I approve, Siesta! Good choice!"

"No, no, Jessica," Siesta giggled. "This is the one I told you about. He's Kazuma. My master."

"Oh, so you're Kazuma, huh?" Jessica said, looking at me with even more interest.

"I am," I said with narrowed eyes. "And you're the one who has been telling my maid to use love potions on me."

"Aw, don't take it personally," Jessica rolled her eyes. "Siesta was complaining how you weren't doing anything to her, so I just gave her some friendly advice."

"Jessica!" Siesta cried in humiliated horror, her face once more a bright red color like that of a tomato.

"From what I've seen and heard, love potions are in no way just 'friendly advice,'" I said tersely.

"But come on! Look at her! How can you not do _something_ to someone as gorgeous as my cousin?" Jessica demanded as she grabbed Siesta, who looked like she wanted to do nothing more than crawl into a hole and die of shame, and wrapped one arm around my maid as if she were presenting an art showpiece. "You chicken or somethin'?"

I was starting to get the feeling that Jessica and I weren't really speaking in the same conversation.

"A-a-anyways!" Siesta interjected hastily as she broke free from Jessica's clutches in an effort to stop the rampant humiliation her cousin was putting her through. "Cousin Jessica, I have a favor to ask."

"Shoot, Cousin," Jessica said.

"Do you think this girl and I could work here for a while?" Siesta said as she grabbed Louise by the shoulders and brought her forward. "I'm not sure how long, but probably until the end of summer?"

"Well, sure," Jessica said as she looked over Louise, who was dressed in a set of newly bought commoner's clothing. "But what's the occasion? And who's the squirt?"

"Squirt!?" Louise said, outraged. "I will have you know that I am Louise F-"

"She's Louise, my sister," I interrupted quickly, using my wind spirits to erase any sound that would escape from Louise's mouth. "She has a bit of a temper problem. And we just need a place to stay and work for a while is all."

"Is that so?" Jessica gave me an arch look. "I guess it's fine, but I'll have to ask papa first. And we're going to expect all of you to work. So that means you too, Kazuma."

I looked around once more at the waitresses in their skimpy maid outfits. "If you're expecting me to dress up in one of those, I'm going to strongly decline."

"Of course not, silly," Jessica rolled her eyes again. "You're going to be in the back doing dishes."

"Dishes," I nodded. "Okay, I can do that."

Then she narrowed her eyes contemplatively as she studied me carefully. "Although... Putting you in one of the Fairies uniform could be interesting. And papa has been wondering how to draw in more female customers as well... Hm..."

"No. Just... No," I said. "I am _not_ dressing up like that. Ever."

"Pity," Jessica sighed disappointingly. Strangely, Siesta did the same. I absolutely did _not_ want to think about what that meant. "Fine, fine. Let me call papa." Jessica looked over her shoulder and shouted loudly. "Oi! Papa!"

"Coming!"

Upon seeing Jessica's dad, I cried out in pure, horrified shock that was completely unlike myself. "Eyaagh!"

The man the came out took me by total surprise. He was big, heavily muscled, and with an armor-like layer of fat, akin to that of a strongman. But it wasn't that that surprised, no, shocked me. It was his clothes. They were the most flamboyant things I had ever seen before.

His sleeveless shirt was violet and made of a satin-like material, and cut in a V-shape so low that it revealed even his belly button, along with all the thick chest hair in between his neck and stomach. His pants, like his shirt, were also made of satin, though colored black instead, and they were so short that they looked more like skintight underwear. On his feet, he wore bright red heels, no doubt having been specially modified to order, because there was no way anyone sold high heels _that_ big.

So he was Scarron.

…

Eyaagh...

"What is it, Jessica?" Scarron said in a singsong baritone voice. "And oh! What's this? Siesta! It's been so long! Come give your uncle a hug!"

"Uncle Scarron. It's good to see you," Siesta said as she hugged Scarron.

"Papa," Jessica said. "Siesta and these two want to work here for the summer. Is that alright?"

"Of course it's alright!" Scarron declared flamboyantly as he looked at the two of us. "And what are your names?"

Seeing as how Louise looked absolutely petrified by Scarron, something I didn't blame her for considering that this man was probably an affront to everything she had thought a man should be like, I took it upon myself to introduce the both of us.

"I'm Kazuma and this is Louise," I said. "Thank you for your kindness, Mister Scarron."

"Wrong!" Scarron suddenly said. "Not 'mister.' Call me 'mi mademoiselle.'"

"Uh... Right... Mi mademoiselle..."

God. I just want to go home.

"Tres bien!" Scarron wiggled his body excitedly. "Okay, Kazuma, Louise! Come along and we'll get you two your uniforms! We can finally start drawing in a female customer base!"

"Papa," Jessica said. "Kazuma doesn't want to do that. He's going to be working in the back."

"Oh, really? Pity," Scarron sighed disappointingly. Beside him, Jessica and Siesta shared his disappointed sigh.

I shuddered involuntarily.

Speaking of which, hasn't Louise been unusually quiet? I glanced aside at Louise and noticed her glaring at me. Now why was she doing that? Oh right. I had forgotten to stop the wind spirits from silencing her. That was actually pretty convenient. Now she couldn't argue and say that she didn't want to do this.

"Come on then," Jessica motioned for us to follow her. "I'll show you guys to your rooms."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"No, no, no!" Louise said angrily. "I am not going to humiliate myself like this! And how dare you silence me like that, Kazuma!"

Siesta and I looked at each other and sighed.

"_Do you want to convince her or should I?"_ Siesta's expression asked silently.

"_You, please," _I responded in kind.

"Miss Valliere," Siesta turned to Louise and said genially. "If the purpose of your mission is to gather information on what commoners think about the queen, there truly is no better place than here. The wine and girls here have a way of making men talk about absolutely anything you want."

"I am not going to wear _that!"_ Louise jabbed a finger angrily at a Charming Fairies uniform lying on her bed. "And what kind of dingy room is this? It's smaller than my closet!"

Siesta and I shared another look. This time, we decided it was my turn.

"Well, if you don't like it, how about we just go back to the Academy?" I shrugged as I turned back to Louise. "I mean, if this is the extent of your level of devotion to the queen, then there's no point in continuing this mission."

"Do not belittle me," Louise snapped. "I am the queen's most loyal subject!"

"You sure about that?" I said mockingly. "Clearly you're not if this little hardship is enough to make you want to quit this mission."

"Who said I want to quit the mission?" Louise glared at me. "I never said that."

"Oh I'm sorry. My mistake," I said sarcastically. "You just want to go about doing this mission in a way that is certain to fail and possibly feed Henrietta dangerous disinformation by doing so."

Louise growled angrily, but bit her lip and said nothing. She knew as well as I did that she could say nothing in retort. For a person like her, raised as a high class noble all her life, she simply did not have the mentality nor the skills to be able to accomplish this mission successfully on her own, or even to suggest an alternative method or plan. Even if she did not want to believe that, she knew it to be true.

"Miss Valliere," Siesta said again. "I know that for a noble like you, this might seem humiliating and demeaning, but it's truly not so bad. It's honest work and there are strict rules here that prevent the customers from doing anything obscene with the girls. If they try, they are promptly removed from the premises. And I bet that with your beauty and grace, you could easily become the number one girl in the inn and get all the information you want from the customers."

Nice, Siesta. A combo attack following up my insults with flattery. Insults and flattery; the two best way of making a person like Louise move the way you want them to.

"Hmph. Of course I could," Louise declared proudly, having completely forgotten about how she had just been protesting working here in light of being praised.

"And the truth of the matter is that lately the Charming Fairies Inn has been suffering in sales because of a new cafe that serves tea imported from Rub'al Khali down the street," Siesta said solemnly. "But if we had Miss Valliere helping us, I have no doubt in my mind that we could defeat that cafe easily and once more become the undisputed most popular inn in the entire city."

"Hm... That is true," Louise said thoughtfully. "But... I don't know..."

Siesta glanced aside at me furtively, a silent signal letting me know that it was my chance to apply the finishing touches in order to seal the deal.

"Save your breath, Siesta," I drawled. "You're just overestimating Louise. She has neither the will nor courage to do this. And even if she did, I bet she'd give up after only a day complaining about how hard it is."

"What!?" Louise shot up and glared at me. "No I wouldn't! In fact, I'll prove it! I will work here and show you just how easily a noble like I can do task!"

"Sure, sure," I said in a bored, disbelieving tone. "Go for it."

"I will! And that's that!" Louise said immaturely.

"Good," I said. "Then we need to discuss strategy now. Siesta, what have you told Jessica about me and Louise?"

"Nothing about Miss Valliere," Siesta replied. "But I've told her that you rescued me from Mott and hired me with your own money, though I didn't tell her or any of my family anything about Seirei Jutsu at all. I thought it might be best to keep it a secret."

"Actually, it doesn't really matter if you keep it a secret. But okay," I said, "then from here on, if anybody asks, especially Jessica, you don't know anything about why a noble like Louise is here, alright? The only thing you know is that I ordered you to accompany us."

"Eh?" Louise looked surprised. "But you told Jessica that I was your sister."

I rolled my eyes. "Oh please. Only a blind person could possibly think that we might be siblings. Look at how different we look, for starters. I'm an Asian and you're a Halkeginian. Jessica knew that it was a lie the moment I said it."

"Asian?" Louise shook her head. "No, never mind. But if that was the case, then why not make up a better cover story?"

"A bold lie is better than a flimsy lie," I said. "Even if we tried to use a better cover story, it would fall apart quickly."

The reason why was because Louise was in for a total shock at her first foray into the service industry. There was absolutely no doubt whatsoever in my mind that Louise would blow any cover we tried to use because of her actions and reactions.

"So instead, it's better to just use a really obvious lie and then let them imagine what they will," I said. "If anyone asks, just keep saying that you are my sister. They'll probably pester you for a little while because of curiosity, but so long as you don't give in, they'll probably get tired of it quickly and stop."

"Ah, you probably won't have to worry about that," Siesta said. "Many of the girls here have their own past and stories that they don't want to share. The rule of this inn is to respect everyone's privacy."

"Even better," I nodded as I stood up. "Now then. Why don't you go ahead and get changed, Louise? Today's really busy, so they need us to work starting today. Your shift will be starting soon and I need to get to work as well."

"I should go and get changed too then," Siesta said.

"Wait just a minute," Louise called out as Siesta and I neared the door. We both stopped to look at Louise who had a suspicious look on her face. "While I am glad to get my own room, small though it may be, why is it that you two are sharing a room?"

Siesta and I looked at each other.

"Dunno?" I shrugged. "Maybe they ran out of rooms?"

"Indeed," Siesta agreed. "There are quite a bit of tenants here, after all, and most of the girls working here live here as well."

"Oh really?" Louise narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "And are you two sure that you two won't be taking advantage of being alone together to do anything indecent? Something like chapter 2 of A Lovely Day in the Field of Flowers, Siesta?"

"Well, when you put it that way, it's like Jessica purposefully set it up like that," I noted and nodded once. "How thoughtful of her." My mouth spread into a broad, playful grin. "But you know, what me and my maid do in our own time isn't really your business, is it?"

Beside me, Siesta was blushing brightly, but nodding enthusiastically.

"I won't allow it!" Louise declared angrily. "We're on a mission! This is no time to be doing anything obscene! And also, you're my familiar, and if your master is suffering, then it's only right that you should too!"

"Is that so?" I said without rancor.

"It is so," Louise growled.

"Huh. Well anyways, hurry up and get changed," I shrugged, dismissing the conversation entirely. "Good luck with your first day of work."

"Hey! Get back here! We're not done talking about this!" Louise shouted as Siesta and I left her room, before being mostly silenced by the door we shut behind us.

For a fourth time, Siesta and I looked at each other, before we both broke down into laughter. We kept that up all the way until we returned to our own room's door, whereupon we finally managed to stop just long enough to catch our breath.

"By the way," I said after regaining control of myself, "there's something I need to know. How likely is it that Jessica is going to try and spike my drinks with a love potion tonight?"

"Oh, she wouldn't do that," Siesta laughed at what she thought was my jest.

"Right..." I secretly vowed to myself to keep a watchful eye on Jessica. There was no sense in being lax and risk getting drugged after all. "In any case, I'll head down first and get started on my shift. See ya."

After we parted, I went downstairs to the main floor of the Charming Fairies Inn. I took a moment to survey the inn. Its customers, all males ranging from young males, some of them still in the midst of puberty, to old geezers, were all drunk and raucous, talking as loud as they could in an effort to be heard by the pretty young waitresses over the noise of everyone else doing the exact same thing.

The girls, on their part, were doing excellently. They were listening attentively to anything and everything the customers were saying, and if not, they were at least pretending that they were so well that it was impossible to tell the difference. And the way they used their body language and wiles was simply masterful, especially when dealing with the customers who got a little too grabby. Instead of simply showing any disgust, the girls continued putting on a coquettish smile and acted in a hard-to-get manner such that the customer was led to believe that he only needed to push a little more to get a date. Thus, they continued throwing more and more money away as tips in an effort to show their sincerity and affection.

Of course, once they had been properly fleeced of all their money, the girls promptly left them since they no longer had a use for them. But even then they manipulated the customers skillfully. With just a few sweet words, the girls left the customers thinking that the girls didn't _actually_ want to leave, but only had to because of their job, and that they really wanted to see them again. Thus, it was ensured that they, the customers, would return in the very near future to see "their" girl.

"Oi! Kazuma!" I glanced over towards where the kitchen was to see Jessica shouting at me. "Quit your gawkin' and get over to the kitchen and get started! The dishes aren't gonna wash themselves y'know!"

"I'm coming!" I called back as I hurried to the kitchens.

"Clean those," Jessica snapped as she quickly grabbed a few dishes of food and hurried out of the kitchen. "And be careful not to break anything."

"Got it," I said as I took off my black jacket and tied it around my waist by its sleeves. Glancing around, I located a spare apron and put it on and then, after rolling up my sleeves, set to work on the mountain of dirty dishes stacked in the large sink.

Whistling a made-up song to myself, I quickly scrubbed and washed down each dish in smooth, practiced motions.

Heh. Even though the last time I stepped foot into a kitchen was three years ago with Tsui Ling at her restaurant, our home, it seems my body still remembers how to work in the kitchen. Though, admittedly, her restaurant never quite got this much business.

"Working hard?"

I glanced up to see Siesta and Louise standing on the other side of the window-like opening allowing for the cooks to quickly hand food to the waitresses. Both of them were dressed in a Charming Fairies uniform, though of different types.

For Louise, her hair had been tied up behind her, as well as braiding two small locks of hair on either side of her face, and she was dressed in a pale pink camisole that stuck to her corset and wore long white gloves with matching stockings. Due to her immature appearance, she was a far cry from being a seductive or sexy woman. Instead, her clothes gave her the appearance of a cute and innocent fairy.

Siesta, on the other hand, was dressed far more provocatively in comparison. To put it simply, it was as if someone took her Academy maid outfit and completely threw away the concept of modesty from its design. The outfit had a low cut so as to allow a very healthy amount of her cleavage to be seen, and her skirt was so short that it stopped just barely below her mid-thigh. And like Louise's outfit, Siesta's also hugged her body, emphasizing her slim, beautiful figure. With smooth, silk-like black stockings that emphasized the lines of her legs and a lacy headband finishing her outfit, Siesta was easily able to pull off the seductive and sexy look, unlike Louise.

"I guess so," I shrugged as I returned my attention back to my task. "Washing dishes isn't exactly hard work."

"I can't believe I'm doing this. This is so humiliating. I think I'm going to die," Louise was mumbling frantically to herself, her gaze kept firmly down and her face a bright, blushing red.

"Chin up, Louise," Jessica said as she reentered the kitchen with a fresh stack of dirty dishes that easily outnumbered the amount of dishes I had been able to clean so far. "Siesta, show her the ropes, will ya?"

"Sure thing, Cousin," Siesta said as she began to lead Louise away. "Come this way, Mi-... Louise."

As the two walked away, Jessica sidled up beside me and quietly began going to work on cleaning the dishes as well. Once they were out of earshot range, however, Jessica immediately began speaking.

"So, Louise is your sister, huh?" Jessica said coyly.

"Yep," I nodded firmly. "She's my sister."

"Even though you two look nothing alike?" Jessica's lips quirked into an amused smile.

"I'm adopted," I said easily. "Though I'm not sure if Louise knows that."

"Oh, I'm sure she does," Jessica said playfully. "So tell me: why is a noble wandering around with two commoners and also working at a place like this?"

"I'm sorry, but I really don't know what you're talking about," I said, my own lips also forming an amused smile.

"Hmmm..." Jessica looked at me suspiciously. "Well, whatever. If you won't talk about that, how about you tell me why you haven't done anything to my cousin? You know that she likes you, right?"

I unconsciously looked up from my work and glanced at Siesta serving wine to a customer.

"Yes, I know," I said simply. "Siesta isn't exactly subtle about it. But the living arrangements make it difficult for anything to happen."

"Oh, really?" Jessica said slyly. "Then tonight you should be able to make a move, right?"

"Who knows?" I responded nonchalantly. "Hand me that soap, will you?"

Jessica handed me the bar of soap, which I rubbed vigorously on the washcloth before starting to clean another dish.

"Speaking of my cousin," Jessica said, "I have to thank you for saving Siesta."

"It's no problem," I replied.

"But how is it you can afford to pay her so much?" Jessica asked curiously. "She's told me that you're paying her 10 gold coins a month. Where are you finding that kind of money?"

"Let's just say I have some very valuable skills that interest a few very important people, okay?" I winked at her. Glancing out onto the main floor of the inn again, I saw a scene that made me wince.

Beside me, Jessica sighed and shook her head upon seeing the same scene. "That noble girl... She really doesn't know how to treat customers does she?"

"I'm not really sure if my sister knows how to treat anybody well," I concurred as I watched Siesta practically drag the angry Louise back here into the kitchen.

"What? What?" Louise cried angrily, fists waving in a temper. "It was that lowlife's fault for daring to touch me!"

I sighed. "So? What did she do, Siesta?"

"One of the customers became a little touchy, so Louise slapped him," Siesta shook her head.

I sighed again and unconsciously face palmed myself with a soapy hand, causing me to accidentally get a few suds in my mouth and much more across my face, though fortunately none got into my eyes. Siesta and Jessica laughed a little at that, and even Louise's mouth twitched into a small, amused smile.

"Go ahead and get back to work, Cousin," Jessica said as I wiped the soap off my face. Siesta nodded and left the kitchen. Once she was gone, Jessica turned to look at Louise. "Look, Missy. I'm letting you work here as a favor for my cousin. But if you keep doing things like that, I'm going to have to fire you. Understood?"

"But-" Louise began to protest.

"No buts," Jessica said with a note of finality in her voice. "Either learn to behave properly or else you. Are. Fired."

Louise opened her mouth to argue, but stopped when Jessica flashed a dangerously sweet smile at her. Biting her lips, Louise quietly nodded in resignation.

It was then that the inn's door opened, accompanied by the stomping sounds of the feet of half a dozen men. We all looked towards the source of the sound: a group of seven men, who, judging by the way that most of them had swordwands at their side and how all noise in the inn immediately died upon their entry, I quickly concluded were trouble.

The noble who stood at the head of the group was a portly man wearing the mantle of a government official around him. His hair was mostly thinning, and I guessed he would likely be fully bald in a few years. Compared to the other nobles accompanying him though, he wore clothes of much higher extravagant clothing. I assumed that he was probably some higher ranked noble and that those with him were either his subordinates or brown-nosers.

As he looked around, Scarron hurried over to the newcomers and bowed courteously to the portly one. "If it isn't Sir Chulenne. Welcome to the Charming Fairies Inn."

Chulenne twisted his mustache, which resembled catfish whiskers, in between his index finger and thumb. "I see that your store is doing well, Scarron. How fortunate of you."

"Oh, not at all, Sir Chulenne," Scarron said abashedly. "Today is just a coincidence. It's rather rare for us to get this many customers."

"Is that a fact?" Chulenne mused. "In any case, I think I'll be trying some of your establishment's wine today."

Scarron shifted uncomfortably where he stood. "Ah, well, as much as we would sincerely love to serve you, Sir Chulenne, as you can see, the inn is completely full today."

"Full?" Chulenne gave a cursory glance around the room. "I'm quite certain I don't know what you're talking about."

As if on cue, Chulenne's group unsheathed their swordwands in a menacing manner. At that, every customer bolted out of the inn. None of the commoners wanted to be on the receiving end of a noble's wrath.

"... Please take a seat, Sir Chulenne," Scarron said resignedly.

As Chulenne's group took a seat at the center-most table in the room, I turned to Jessica and asked, "Who's that?"

"He's Chulenne," Jessica spat venomously. "He's the tax collector around these parts. He likes to abuse his power by coming to the stores under his jurisdiction and ordering whatever he wants and leaving without paying a single coin. And if you displease him, then he'll use his authority to place an outrageous tax on your store and bankrupt it. There's been more than a few stores that have gone out of business like that."

"Well? Is there not a girl here that will serve wine for Her Majesty's tax collector?" Chulenne shouted impatiently. "Hurry it up!"

When no girl stepped forward, Chulenne growled impatiently.

"You," Chulenne pointed at Siesta. "Come here and serve me wine, girl."

Slowly and unenthusiastically, Siesta stepped forward bearing a bottle of wine. I watched calmly as Siesta sat herself down beside Chulenne and poured wine for Chulenne and each of his companions, who were all, without exception, looking at Siesta's body lecherously. Beside me, Jessica was visibly shaking with silent anger.

Chulenne took the cup of wine in his left hand and sipped it, while at the same time wrapping his other meaty arm around Siesta. At that, my eyes narrowed.

"Hmph," Chulenne sneered. "This wine is disgusting. Though I shouldn't have expected any more from a commoner's establishment. Girl, feed the wine to me mouth to mouth, and then maybe that will make it taste better."

At the same time as he said that, Chulenne fondled Siesta's full breasts with his right hand.

"That bastard," Jessica growled as she wrung her hands in front of her, frustrated at her own lack of power to save her beloved cousin.

I, on the other hand, did not have such a problem anymore. Not since I took my revenge for Tsui Ling's death. I dried my hands on my apron and then took it off as I calmly and quickly walked out of the kitchen.

"Oi, Kazuma!" Jessica hissed. "What are you doing?"

Without answering, I went right up to Chulenne and delivered a full force front kick to his face. Because he and his companions had been so distracted by molesting Siesta, my attack took them by total surprise, and Chulenne was sent tumbling backwards out of his seat.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you bastard!?" one of Chulenne's groupies shouted.

I ignored them and turned my attention to Siesta, who did not appear surprised in the least by my actions. To her, I gently bopped her on the head with a light chop.

"Siesta. You're my maid. What do you think you're doing letting these fools do that to you?" I chided. "What was the point of all that training if you're not even going to use it?"

"But if I do anything to them, then they'll close down this shop," Siesta complained.

"Hey! Stop ignoring us!" another of Chulenne's party demanded.

"Hm... Good point," I tapped my chin thoughtfully. "And we do still need this establishment... Tell you what, then. If they try to close the store, I'll take care of everything."

A shifting sound alerted me to Chulenne staggering to his feet.

"You bastard..." Chulenne snarled, his voice coming out oddly nasally due to his broken, bloody nose. "I'll kill you!"

This time I turned around to face Chulenne. I was honestly surprised he was still conscious. I had delivered enough power in my kick to knock out most ordinary men. He probably naturally had a very thick skull.

"You? Kill me? Impossible," I said mockingly. "You wouldn't even be able to beat my maid." I put a hand on Siesta's shoulder. "Siesta, take care of them, okay?"

"As you wish, Master," Siesta said dutifully as I walked over to rejoin the other employees.

"What manner of insult is this? Get back here, commoner!" Chulenne demanded. "I'll punish the lot of you!"

"Oi, oi, Kazuma," Jessica hissed as she came up beside me. "What do you think you're doing making Siesta fight a noble? She's gonna get killed!"

I smiled at her. "Just keep watching. Siesta is good enough to deal with these trash," I said loudly.

Having heard me, Chulenne's faced turned a bright, furious red. "Who do you think you're calling trash, you commoner? Fine. I'll defeat your wench before I kill you. Boys, stay of this. I'll take care of it."

With that, Chulenne whipped out his wand and waved it at Siesta. From its tip, a searing fireball burst forth and flew towards Siesta.

"Siesta! Run!" Jessica shouted desperately and in horror.

Instead, however, Siesta remained rooted to the spot and called forth her water spirits. Interposing the space between the fireball and Siesta, a shield of water appeared out of thin air. When the fireball struck it, the two vanished in a large burst of steam.

"What in the name of Brimir?" Chulenne said in pure shock.

Before he could recover, Siesta gathered the water vapor and molded it into a solid mass of water, which she then used as a sledgehammer to strike Chulenne with a bludgeoning blow across his body, sending him flying through the air across the room. An unfortunate table was destroyed in breaking the fall of the noble who was moaning and writhing in pain, clutching a shattered wand in hand. Then, as if to ensure he remained down, the mass of water slammed down on top of him powerfully.

"You should not have threatened my master," Siesta said coldly. "That is something I shall not forgive."

Surprisingly, despite the attack having been more than powerful enough to have been a knock out blow and having suffered several broken ribs and other bones from it, the tax collector remained conscious.

"K-kill her!" Chulenne ordered his men in painful, wheezing gasps.

The six members of Chulenne's group aimed their swordwands at Siesta and unleashed a combined wave of fire and wind. However, when compared to the enormous wave of water Siesta unleashed against them, it was like challenging a powerful tidal wave with a pathetic splash. Siesta's water completely swallowed up the nobles' spells, extinguishing them completely, and crashing into the casters themselves and carrying them all the way across the room before slamming them hard against the wall, rendering them unconscious.

Hm... I may have underestimated Siesta's progress. Truly, a genius's potential for growth is not to be underestimated. Perhaps it was time to teach her something new?

"Eek!" Chulenne squeaked in fear as he bolted for the door as fast as he could.

Ah, that's no good. Can't have him escaping now.

With but a thought, the room's borders suddenly changed. The wooden walls and windows and door disappeared and was replaced instead by a swirling tendrils of silver-grey wind. Even the ceiling and floor was covered by a layer of that wind. Beyond that wind, only a deep, black darkness could be seen. Had it not been for the fact that the winds were also giving off a pale, ghostly silver glow, it probably would have been almost impossible to see.

"W-what's going on!?" Chulenne cried out in confusion as he frantically beat against the boundary of my dimensional kekkai.

"Siesta," I called out. "It's time for a lesson."

Siesta immediately turned to look at me with rapt attention. Similarly, the employees of the Charming Fairies Inn were watching and listening attentively.

"Seirei Jutsu is not merely about controlling natural phenomena like these guys' Elemental Magic," I said as I jerked a thumb over at the direction of the unconscious nobles. "It's not something so trite and mundane. No, the quintessence of Seirei Jutsu is using your element as a medium to manifest your will into the world. In other words, Seirei Jutsu does not need to obey the laws of nature. Which brings me to this."

I gestured around the room at my kekkai. "This is something called a 'dimensional barrier.' Unlike a normal barrier that acts as a mere shield, this type of barrier separates everything inside of it from the outside world by moving its contents into another dimension. Because this is not a natural phenomenon, it is impossible for a noble's magic to detect, much less destroy. In just a moment, I'm going to remove my barrier and I want you to make your own."

I walked over to Chulenne, who was watching Siesta and I with wide, fearful eyes. Grabbing him by the collar, I forcibly dragged him away from the boundary of my barrier and tossed him to the ground near his fellow nobles in order to prevent another escape attempt when I removed my barrier.

"The process to forming a dimensional barrier is pretty straightforward actually," I said. "Simply spread your spirits out into a boundary in the shape of this room and command them to separate this space from the world. The difficult part is having enough power. The more you try to deviate from how nature naturally works, the more spirits and the stronger your own will needs to be. But I think you should be able to do this now. Are you ready? I'm going to remove my barrier now."

"I'm ready," Siesta nodded.

The wind covering the surfaces of the room suddenly vanished. Once more, the door and windows could be seen and sunlight poured into the room through them again. Almost immediately, Chulenne bolted for the door, but I flicked my hand in his direction and a gust of wind blew him back.

Siesta closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Spirits of water," she murmured softly.

Suddenly, the walls, the floor, and the ceiling of the room was surrounded by a layer of pure water. And yet, despite it being water, it was not wet and it did not soak through my shoes. Furthermore, similar to my own wind barrier from before, the space beyond the boundary of the barrier was completely black and the water gave off a cool cerulean glow.

"Siesta... You... How?" Jessica said in complete awe.

"It's a form of magic from where Kazuma is from," Siesta explained. "I can use it because our great-grandfather is from the same place." Siesta paused for a moment and frowned thoughtfully at that. "Hm... Wait. That means you should be able to learn this too, if you want, Cousin Jessica. Right, Kazuma?"

"Most likely, yes," I agreed. "Anyway, what do you guys want to do with him?" I pointed at Chulenne.

"P-please spare me!" Chulenne begged immediately now that the focus of the conversation was being aimed at him.

"I suppose that decision is up to those of the Charming Fairies Inn," I said carelessly. "Scarron? What do you think? Do you want him killed or not?"

"Non," Scarron shook his head. "There shall be no killing in this inn. Siesta, please remove your barrier and allow Sir Chulenne and his men to go free. In return, Sir Chulenne, I want you to pay for the damages caused here today and to promise to never bother this inn, its customers, or any of the girls here ever again. Understood?"

"Yes! Of course!" Chulenne immediately nodded vigorously as he fumbled around a heavy purse attached to his belt and untied it before tossing it onto the floor in front of him.

Scarron walked over to the purse and picked it up. He bounced it carefully in his hand before opening it briefly to check its contents. With a satisfied nod, Scarron made a gesture to the girls, and a few of them gleefully grabbed a bottle of wine and dumped it over the faces of the unconscious nobles, causing them to awake with a start.

For a moment, it seemed like they were about to fight again, but they quickly backed down when Siesta removed her dimensional barrier and formed a ball of water in front of her. Instead, the nobles all quickly scurried out of the inn without another word.

With the nobles gone, Siesta let out a sigh of relief and her knees suddenly buckled as the tension of her first solo fight suddenly left her. Had I not quickly stepped over to her and caught her, she would have collapsed to the ground.

"You did a good job, my maid," I grinned.

"Thank you, my master," Siesta returned with a smile.

And all around us, an enthusiastic applause erupted as the girls (plus Scarron) of the Charming Fairies Inn cheered for Siesta.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Dammit, dammit, dammit," Chulenne muttered to himself as he made his way towards the nearest guard station. "I'll kill them for this humiliation! I swear it! I'll call in the troops and have them all tortured!"

_Thunk. _

Upon hearing the sound of meat being dropped behind him, the tax collector turned around to face his personal guards. They were all standing there like normal, but were strangely missing their heads and were spouting out blood like geysers. Cut apart cleanly at the necks, their heads were instead resting peacefully on the ground, a completely normal expression frozen on their faces.

"What the?" Chulenne managed to say before a wind blade sheared his own head off, silencing him forever.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

Throughout the inn, the girls were working diligently to clean up the mess brought about by the fight with Chulenne, while Scarron sat at a table and ran calculations to determine what they needed to buy and how much it would cost.

Being an employee of the same inn, I myself was working to help clean as well, and as I finished clearing away the last of the debris, I glanced around at the cleaned up inn and nodded satisfactorily.

"Hey, why are you smiling?" Jessica came up to me and asked.

"Hm?" I glanced at Jessica, only just now realizing that, yes, I was smiling. "Oh, it's nothing. I'm just satisfied about a job well done."


	12. Chapter 12 - A Passing Day

_Author's Notes:_

_Okay, to be honest, I really hate this chapter, and I rushed it, so the quality might be a little low. You have been warned. _

**-STORY START-**

I had to hand it to Scarron. He worked _fast_.

It hadn't taken him even a day to completely replace, restore, and refurbish the damages wrought upon the main floor of the Charming Fairies Inn during Siesta's fight with Chulenne. By the time I woke up in the morning, the inn was as good as new.

"Huaaah..." I yawned and stretched as I meandered down to the main floor. There were only a few people moving around so early in the morning: Scarron, Jessica, and two other girls. They were busy cleaning the place and preparing for opening hours.

"Mornin', Sunshine," Jessica said upon noticing me enter the room. She glanced around the room briefly before walking up to me and slapping a hand on my shoulder. "You seem tired. Did Siesta keep you up all night?"

"Something like that," I said, though the truth was far different from what Jessica was imagining.

What had actually happened was that on the night Siesta and I returned to our shared room, we had found Louise perched on our bed, sitting in a domineering manner, whereupon she had declared that, as my master, there was no way she could allow her familiar (or in her words, "stupid dog in heat") to do anything indecent while on such an important mission.

This in turn had led to a long, protracted argument between Siesta and Louise, which had forced me to use my wind to prevent any noise from escaping the room, lest the rest of the inn's occupants complain about the noise. Siesta's main points were that Louise had no right to get in the way of Siesta and I and that she deserved a reward for dealing with Chulenne so well.

Louise retorted with the statement that since I was her familiar and she my master, she had the final say in what I could or could not do. Furthermore, Louise said, Siesta had _not_ taken care of the Chulenne debacle well since now he would very likely alert the authorities for Siesta's crime of harming a noble.

At that point, I had calmly interjected to remind Louise that she was _not_ my master, that I had been forcibly kidnapped by her magic, and that I was still my own person. I did, however, leave out the fact that Chulenne was too dead to alert any authorities of what had happened.

Louise did not take that well and thus began arguing about the matter with me, which in turn drew Siesta in as a result of her protectiveness of me, _her_ master. From there, the argument just went on and on and on. Eventually, however, Siesta proved to be the victor when she used the ultimate forbidden card:

She threatened to never share with Louise her books again.

That caused Louise to go off into a fresh, but short lived bout of protests, saying that that wasn't fair since she couldn't buy those books for herself without getting caught. Siesta retorted that Louise wasn't being fair in meddling with Siesta and my own business. And with that, though not quietly, Louise grudgingly departed.

Unfortunately, by that point it was very late, the argument having gone on for nearly three or four hours, and I had become very tired from the entire ordeal. Therefore, I simply went to sleep instead, and though it was with Siesta in my arms, nothing else happened for the rest of the night. In fact, the only noteworthy thing was that the normally early bird Siesta was still sleeping, the fight having no doubt tired her out.

"Oh?" Jessica grinned mischievously. No doubt she intended to go to Siesta later to gather the nonexistent details of our night together. "Well, since you're up, there are a lot of chores to get done before we open. You gotta help clean the tables and chairs, wash the dishes, and teach me some of that 'Seirei Jutsu' stuff."

I arched an eyebrow at that last part. "I'll help clean and wash because it's my job, but teaching another person is too much of a chore for me to want to do for free."

"Aw, don't say that." Jessica gave me a friendly slap on my back. "If I really can learn to use that kind of magic, then it'd be really useful in chasing off some of the ruder customers when it's necessary."

I sighed. There were practical reasons for me not wanting to teach Jessica as well. In the amount of time that I had, the entirety of summer vacation at most, it simply was not enough time to teach her anything practical. And due to that, it was potentially dangerous for her to learn Suijutsu. This was not because of any kind of inherent danger, but rather because of a problem similar to what many amateur martial artists go through.

On Earth, many kids and teens and more than a few adults tend to overestimate their own combat skills after learning martial arts for a scant few months, despite warnings against such overestimation. The truth of the matter is, however, that learning for only that amount of time is nowhere near the amount of practice and training they need to become the war god they imagine themselves as. The consequences of this arrogance can range from the hilarious, such as when a kid tries to use a really complicated move in a schoolyard fight and ends up failing horribly, to the terrible, such as when they're being mugged by a person with a weapon and instead of just giving them what they want or trying to run, they instead attempt to fight and get severely injured.

Similarly, if Jessica learned Suijutsu, she could potentially overestimate herself and end up getting seriously hurt because she tried to take care of a threat herself instead of calling her father, Scarron, or someone else for help.

But since all that was way too much for me to bother explaining, I simply said, "I don't work for free, Jessica. I'm sure you understand."

"It's because I'm not offering you my body, isn't it?" Jessica pouted. "Pervert."

"Where the hell did you get that idea?" I said ludicrously.

"What? You don't like my body?" Jessica teased playfully as she grasped her breasts in her hands and pressed them together.

I had a feeling that Jessica was like one of those big sister types who didn't even consider their younger brother as a man. And it seemed that she had delegated me to that younger brother role, even though I was probably older than her.

"No, you have a very sexy body," I deadpanned. "Just the mere thought is enough to make me wild with lust."

"Sarcasm ill befits you, Kazuma," Jessica said sternly, though with an amused face.

"Sarcasm? No, Jessica. I am being totally serious right now," I lied in a flat, monotonous tone. "It is taking all of my willpower not to ravish you here and now."

"You flatterer, you," Jessica laughed with amusement. "Don't let Siesta catch you saying that."

"No need to worry about that," I said. "She's still sleeping. She probably won't wake up for at least a few more hours."

"Wow, you guys must have _really_ gone at it last night," Jessica said, vaguely impressed.

"Something like that."

"Hey, but don't you think you owe me for giving you two a room together?" Jessica grinned.

"I don't recall asking you to do it though," I sniffed.

"Don't be like that," Jessica said as she jabbed my side with a finger. "C'mon. Teach me! Teach me!" She suddenly leaned away from me, arms kept close to her body as if she were hugging herself in an obvious gesture of disgust and fear. "Or is it that I really do need to offer up my body to you before you'll teach me? You pervert. Lecher."

I sighed exasperatedly as Jessica began poking my side again. "Alright, fine. I'll teach you the basics. But just so you know, the most I'll be able to teach you in the time I'll be here is how to use the water spirits to clean the dishes for you. Nothing combat worthy."

"Are you kidding me?" Jessica's eyes were wide and ecstatic. "That's fantastic! Making dish washing easier will be incredibly useful!"

"Right... Well, in any case, once I'm gone, you're going to need to ask Siesta if you want any more lessons."

"Sounds good," Jessica agreed. "Let's get to work. Today's the first day of the tip war and I gotta get my revenge on Siesta for last year."

I cocked my head. "Tip war?"

**-SCENE BREAK-**

The so-called "tip war" turned out to be a week long event that Scarron held every month. For one week, they put a discount on their alcohol to attract as many customers as possible. The girls then competed to earn the most amount of tips. At the end of the week, the tips were counted and tallied and whichever girl earned the most tips would receive the right to use something Scarron called the "Charming Fairies Bustier" for one day.

Apparently, the thing had been given to a girl long ago by a king as a token of his affection. It also had a magic enchantment placed on it called "Attraction." It was a similar type of magic that love potions used. When I had learned that fact, I had been seriously considering destroying such a wicked and evil article of clothing, but had been talked out of it by Jessica and Siesta when I made my opinion known. They had explained to me that the Bustier was a far more temporary and innocent thing, its magic lasting only so long as someone continued to wear it, though I was still iffy on letting that Bustier go free. It must be an incredibly powerful magical artifact, because when Scarron showed it to us, it had been with him in it. And by virtue of its magic, it had actually made me think Scarron didn't look _that_ bad in it.

Eyaaaagh...

"Kazuma!" Scarron called out as he peeked into the kitchen. "How are the dishes coming along?"

"They're coming!" I called back as I frantically upped my pace. The amount of dirty dishes that were pouring in was insane. It was all I could do to keep abreast with the constant inflow of dishes, but it was a losing battle.

Now I see why Jessica was so excited about making dish washing easier. I could understand her plight.

I glanced up briefly to take a look at the main floor. It seemed that the last time Siesta had worked her was just last year. During that time, she had managed to beat Jessica, the most popular girl in the inn, in the tip war. And their skill was showing.

At the moment, it seemed that Siesta and Jessica were both leading the race by a sizable margin, with Siesta just barely in the lead. It was interesting watching their differing styles at work.

Jessica played the part of a "tsundere." By acting like she was angry and jealous that the customer she was with had been flirting with other girls and that she genuinely liked them, the customers would frantically attempt to make amends and convince her that she was the one they really liked. This usually involved large wads of money being handed over to her hand over fist.

Siesta took a different approach. She played the part of a shy, innocent, sheltered country girl who knew little of the ways of the city, claiming that she was taking this job as a means of providing for her family. This act tended to bring out a more aggressive carnal desire in her customers. Many of them had already attempted to convince Siesta to go out with them after work, upon which they no doubt planned to "corrupt" her.

Amusingly, however, this was all a trap set by Siesta. As soon as her customers reached that point, she would blush and profess a desire to do just that, but would refuse politely by claiming she really needed money for her family. Then, in an attempt to persuade her, the customers would give her nearly all the coins they had. After thanking them for their kindness, Siesta would then smoothly depart, leaving tantalizing hints that she would love to see them again in the near future as she did so.

Of course, this all meant that Siesta tended to attract the customers who got a little too touchy more so than the other girls. On those occasions, either Scarron or I would quickly eject them from the premises.

And then there was Louise.

I shifted my gaze over to Louise for a moment to check on how she was doing. She had, at the very least, managed to avoid slapping any of the customers... Thus far, anyway. But she had no sense nor aptitude for this line of work, and it was showing.

Though the pink-haired noble had no shortage of customers due to her own charmingly cute looks, she had absolutely no conversational skills that did not involve her talking down at them. Except for the very rare few who found her condescending, domineering attitude attractive, most customers were turned off by it and quickly left her for the other girls. As such, her place in the tip war was dead last. And by a very wide margin at that. This, of course, meant that she had managed to get no information out of them.

I shrugged as I returned my attention to the dishes. I suppose that much was to be expected, after all. It's not like I had high expectations from Louise in the first place. It was simply far too much to ask a girl raised as a high class noble for all her life to suddenly drop that upbringing completely and pretend to be a sultry waitress. It's why I secretly asked Siesta to ask her customers when possible about the current political affairs and status quo. Then, by having the wind spirits carry their conversation to my ears, I was able to listen in on them even over all the surrounding noise.

In regards to Henrietta herself, I learned that most people tended to be split into two camps: those that thought she was some sort of holy woman for her victory at the Battle of Tarbes and those that thought she was just a very lucky woman for that victory. But either way, the general consensus was that she was a good and just queen, especially due to the way she was actively punishing those nobles that abused their powers to lord over the commoners unfairly. To the commoners, she was a symbol of what a proper noble should be like and a promise for a better future.

That said, there were a fair share of criticisms as well. Many were worried that Henrietta, given her youth, was not yet ready to be the leader of the country. Furthermore, that Henrietta was making preparations for a full invasion of Albion had become public knowledge and many were upset by that course of action. For them, they thought that it would be best to simply make peace with Albion, especially since their air fleet had been totally demolished by Tristain during the Battle of Tarbes.

I suppose that they did have a point. War was always an immense burden on both lives and the economy. The best way to avoid those costs was to avoid war. On the other hand, they were being incredibly naïve if they thought making peace now would solve everything.

But, whatever. It was almost certain war would come, and when it did, I had little doubt that Henrietta would ask me to help Tristain. I grinned evilly as I thought about that delicious thought, because when that time came, I planned to fleece as much money out of the queen as I could.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Enter," Henrietta called out to whoever was knocking on her study room's door.

The one who came in was Cardinal Mazarin, her personal and oldest adviser. He wore long robes and had the wispy white hair of old age. He closed the door behind him and trod softly on the stone floor over to Henrietta, who was sitting behind her desk, reading over a few reports.

"Cardinal Mazarin," Henrietta said as she put down her papers and turned her gaze to the old man. "What brings you here?"

"I was merely curious as to what Your Majesty has been so preoccupied with that she would not deign to eat dinner," Mazarin said. "Forgoing meals is unhealthy, Your Highness."

"The same as always, Cardinal," Henrietta said, gesturing at the scattered paper on her desk. "War preparations."

"I see," Mazarin said. "Then, if I may, might I implore Your Majesty to seek an alternative, more diplomatic way of ending this war?"

Henrietta sighed and leaned back in her large, cushioned chair. "Mazarin. We've been over this numerous times. My decision will not change. Tristain, with our ally, Germania, _will_ invade Albion."

"But there is no need to!" Mazarin cried out loudly. He paused as he clenched his teeth and took a deep breath to recompose himself. Then he spoke in a calmer voice. "Your Highness, we have already thoroughly crippled Albion's air superiority. They no longer possess the ability invade us, thus there is no reason for us to waste money and lives invading them. I urge you, Your Highness, to seek peace with Albion."

Henrietta considered Mazarin for a moment. She then gestured quietly towards a chair on the opposite side of her desk. Mazarin sat down on it.

"Why don't you go ahead and tell me what you are really thinking, Cardinal," Henrietta said.

Mazarin sighed ruefully, but nodded. "Your Highness, I fear that you are seeking war so aggressively because of what they did to Prince Wales. Your lover."

"So you think I am doing all this out of revenge?" Henrietta said coolly.

Mazarin nodded glumly. "I'm afraid I do, Your Highness."

Henrietta rested one elbow against her armrest and propped her head against her hand. "Mazarin. Tell me, what do you know of Reconquista's ideals. Their goals."

"Your Highness?" Mazarin frowned, confused by the sudden segue. "I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean."

"It's a simple question, Mazarin," Henrietta said calmly. "What do you know about Reconquista?"

"That they're a rebel group who overthrew the old Albion royalty," Mazarin said. "And that their goal is to retake the Holy Lands from the elves."

"And do you know how they intend to do to fulfill that goal?" Henrietta prompted.

Mazarin frowned more deeply. "They seek to unite all of Halkeginia under one banner before waging war on the elves, if that's what you mean."

"It is," Henrietta said. "So then let me ask you one last question. Do you really think that with a goal like that, Reconquista would stop just because of one setback?"

"But we've destroyed their air fleet," Mazarin protested. "They have no means of being a threat any longer."

"Irrelevant," Henrietta said sternly. "Do not be foolish, Mazarin. What they lost were ships and dragons. They can rebuild the ships and there are still plenty of dragons for them to train in Albion. The amount of actual manpower they lost is only a few percent of their total forces. If we make peace now, they will simply rebuild their strength and attack again."

"We still have the Void at our disposal," Mazarin said. "Should they attempt to invade us again, we can simply use it to repel them once more."

"Her name is Louise Valliere," Henrietta said icily. "And that is also a foolish thought. Louise's Void magic is strong, certainly, but it does not make her, or us, invincible. There is no doubt whatsoever that if Reconquista invaded, they would be far better prepared to deal with Louise and her Void magic than during the Battle of Tarbes. Besides, that isn't even what I am most concerned about."

"And what is it that you are concerned about, Your Highness?" Mazarin asked curiously.

"Kazuma Yagami."

"Kazuma?" Mazarin cocked his head and screwed up his face in concentration. "Oh, yes, that wind mage that was with Lady Valliere at Tarbes, correct? What of him?"

"I'm worried he might go work for Reconquista," Henrietta said plainly.

Mazarin narrowed his eyes. "You mean to say that he's a potential traitor?"

Henrietta shook her head, rejecting that notion. "Not precisely. To be a traitor, he must have first been on our side. That is not so. He is a mere mercenary, and can be bought by whoever pays him the most amount of money. At the present, Reconquista is not aware of that fact, but that is not a guarantee for the future. In fact, Kazuma might even go to them himself one day in order to force me to pay him more money."

"I'll acknowledge his strength," Mazarin frowned. "But I see no reason why you need to work so hard to keep him on our side, Your Highness. After all, as strong as he is, he is merely a powerful wind mage. Unless... Your Highness, please do not tell me you have fallen in love with him?"

"Of course not, Mazarin," Henrietta snapped. "But you are mistaken if you think he is just a wind mage. Do you know about Chulenne, Mazarin?

"The recently murdered tax collector," Mazarin nodded. "He and his men had been all decapitated in the same way, with the murderer currently unknown and at large, and our own investigations have come up with no clues at all." Mazarin's eyes went wide as he understood Henrietta's implication. "You mean to say that that wind mage murdered him?"

"On my orders, Louise is currently undercover in a place called the Charming Fairies Inn," Henrietta began to explain. "In a letter I received from her late last night, she informed me that Chulenne and his men entered that inn and began harassing Kazuma's maid, thereby angering him."

"And so, you think that he followed them afterward and murdered them in revenge before escaping?" Mazarin finished.

"Not exactly," Henrietta said. "I believe that he did kill them, but Louise informed me that he never left the inn. I'm sure you don't know where that inn is located, Mazarin, but it was three miles away from where Chulenne died. He assassinated them without notice and without leaving a single trace from three miles away. Imagine that ability on the side of the enemy. There would be no one safe from him. If he was sided with Reconquista and they ordered him to kill me, I would not survive a day."

"But that's impossible," Mazarin said, his eyes wide in shock. "Even the longest ranged spells cannot travel more than a mile."

"He can do it," Henrietta said calmly. "For reasons I shan't explain, it is possible for him."

"Very well, Your Highness," Mazarin said. "If you are so adamant in going to war, might I make two suggestions?"

"Speak."

"First, the path you are taking in terms of domestic policy is making you far too many enemies," Mazarin said. "You are angering far too many nobles by punishing so many of them. You've already completely destroyed five of the old noble families and all of their power."

"Then they should not have committed their crimes," Henrietta said without remorse and with a note of satisfaction. "Shall I tell you what those five families have done? The crimes they've committed? Kidnapping. Rape. Murder. Theft. And they've been doing all that for many, many years now."

"All of which were done to mere commoners," Mazarin said exasperatedly. "I agree that what they did was awful, but was it truly worth antagonizing them over the lives of just a few commoners? If that's the price for their support, it's a fair trade."

Henrietta slammed her hands on the desk and shot up to her feet. Her face was one of pure, unbridled anger.

"Justice is blind, Mazarin," Henrietta said angrily. "It's high past time that you and the nobility learn that fact. Not even nobles are exempt from justice. You say that I'm making far too many enemies, Mazarin? That is incorrect. Those people that I am angering and all those that support them have been my enemies from the start. My duty, Mazarin, is to all the people of my country. Not just the nobles."

"That may be so," Mazarin said calmly, "but you their support was crucial for this war. Without them, we will lack both soldiers and funding."

"That is also incorrect," Henrietta refuted as she sat back down. "I have a reason for pursuing my policies so aggressively at this time, Mazarin. It's true many nobles hate me, but there are just as many, if not more, that smell opportunity in the wake of my policies. With so many of the old families now gone, there is a large power gap left behind. Many of the younger families and the lesser nobles, will scramble to distinguish themselves in this upcoming war, thereby gaining my favor and taking the old families' position of power and status."

"I see," Mazarin murmured thoughtfully. "Then, would you not consider using a blockade instead to simply starve Reconquista to death? This would be a much more efficient method of waging war than an actual invasion given that they have no means of stopping our fleet."

"No," Henrietta said. "We will destroy them completely."

"But, Your Highness," Mazarin began.

"Enough," Henrietta interrupted. "I grow tired of this. Leave me, Mazarin."

"As you wish, Your Highness," Mazarin said. He stood up and bowed deeply before turning and leaving the room.

Once the door was shut behind the departing cardinal, Henrietta sighed wearily and leaned back against her chair, looking upward at the stone ceiling. For a moment, she sat there in pensive silence, before calling out into that quiet room two names.

"Agnes. Matilda. Come out."

From behind a thick drapery, the captain of the Musketeers emerged like a ghost. Slung at her side was a sword that seemed just slightly too large and heavy for her to wield, yet she bore it comfortably. At the same time, the former magethief that plagued the continent and current special operative of the Musketeer Corps seemingly grew out of the stone floor.

"How goes the preparations for the foxhunt?" Henrietta asked.

"We'll be ready to begin in four days," Agnes replied.

"Any updates on the fox?"

"None," Matilda answered. "There has been no change in its patterns."

"Good," Henrietta said. "Then, there is one more thing I would like to ask you two. A question as women who desire revenge. Am I wrong for doing this? For taking my entire country to war merely for the sake of revenge?"

"You're waging war on Albion for the safety of your country, Your Highness," Agnes said. "Whether or not you desire revenge does not change that fact."

"But still," Henrietta argued. "Mazarin is right. I could easily win this war with a simple blockade, yet I choose to launch an invasion because I want to see Reconquista completely crushed. Am I wrong for wanting that?"

Agnes and Matilda glanced at each other. Despite their vastly differing upbringing and career history, the two of them had become strangely close as friends. Perhaps it was because of what Henrietta said; that they were all women of revenge.

"Your Highness," Matilda said. "To be honest with you, we can't answer that. Agnes still hasn't finished taking her revenge yet and I have been robbed of my chance to. We don't know what lies after taking revenge. Regret or satisfaction? Guilt or joy? All we can say that is if we were in your shoes, we would take the same course of action you are planning."

"I see," Henrietta murmured softly. "Thank you for your honesty, at least. Now please leave me."

The swordswoman and the mage bowed and departed the room quietly. Once she was alone, Henrietta opened a drawer in her desk and withdrew a small, weathered piece of paper; the letter that she had sent Louise and Kazuma to retrieve from her love, Prince Wales.

"What would you say if you were here, my love?" Henrietta murmured as she read the letter for the hundredth time. "You made me swear to forget you, to find a new love. Would you be angry, then, that I am waging a war to take revenge for you? Or would you approve that this is the only way I might have a chance of moving on? Either way, my love, I will destroy Reconquista."


	13. Chapter 13 - The Melancholy of the Queen

_Author's Notes:_

_Oh yeah, so something I've been meaning to ask is what do you guys think about how I switch from first person perspective to third person occasionally? Usually I'm a pretty firm believer in sticking with one type of perspective in the story, but I decided to try and experiment a little and see how it works. If you guys could leave your comments about whether you think it works well or not in the reviews, that would be much appreciated._

**-STORY START-**

"Hnnngh," I yawned sleepily as I woke up.

Feeling a weight on my bare chest, I glanced down to see Siesta sleeping peacefully there, resting in the pocket formed between my arm and body. With our blanket only covering the lower half of our bodies, Siesta's naked breasts and body was in plain sight.

Quietly, I tried to slip out of bed to get dressed and begin the day, but Siesta latched onto me as if I was a giant teddy bear, mumbling softly in her sleep as she did so. I smiled and and leaned in, bringing my mouth close to her ear.

"You're awake, aren't you?" I whispered.

Siesta's eyes open and she grinned. "Oops?"

I let out a chuckle and settled back down into the bed, allowing Siesta to cuddle against me. "You know I need to help clean and set up the shop, right?" I said.

"You can do that later," Siesta said dismissively as she looked at me with upturned eyes. "Between work and teaching Jessica Suijutsu and gathering information for Miss Valliere, you've hardly had any time for me."

"As I recall it, the last four nights would beg to differ," I said.

Siesta giggled and blushed. "True, but we didn't talk much."

"I suppose not," I agreed. "But I really do need to get started on work."

"Very well, Master," Siesta pouted. "You may leave after giving me a kiss."

I arched an eyebrow. "Since when does the maid give orders to the master?"

But even as I said that, I chuckled and placed a quick kiss on her lips. With that done, I climbed out of bed, this time Siesta letting me go, and grabbed my clothes and began dressing myself. Once I was dressed, I left the room and went downstairs to begin the day.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

Work that day was surprisingly slow. That's not to say that the inn wasn't completely packed, but the constant flow of customers was going at a much slower pace. It was enough for me to actually wash the dishes at a more leisurely speed. Hell, if things continued at this pace, I might even get a chance to take a break for a quick late lunch.

As I washed the dishes, I found myself reevaluating my previous judgment of Louise's capabilities. It turned out she wasn't so helpless after all. In less than a week of working in such an alien environment, she had already begun adapting, picking up the skills necessary to thrive. That wasn't to say she was any good yet - she was still in last place in the tip war - but she was improving quickly. By observing the other girls, she copied their techniques and practiced them herself on the customers. And through practice, she was refining those techniques, tinkering with them to match her own unique charm. The end result was that she was beginning to be able to engage the customers, earn tips, and finally start to to do the mission on her own properly.

"Hey, Kazuma," Jessica said as she entered the kitchen. "Business is starting to slow down a bit. You wanna go on your break?"

"Sure," I said as I dried my hands on my apron and stripped it off. "I'll be outside getting some fresh air."

"Be back in fifteen minutes," Jessica said.

"Got it," I said as I left the kitchen and walked out the back door and into a small, isolated alleyway.

Though the employees of the Charming Fairies Inn did their best to maintain a level of cleanliness, it was inevitable that with the amount of alcohol and drunken customers they had that there would be some degree of rankness in the air. And I had quite honestly gotten very tired of it. Taking a deep breath of the fresh, clean air, I sighed satisfactorily as I leaned against the wall and slid down it to sit on the ground.

But just as I allowed myself to relax, I sensed someone peering around the corner suspiciously. By connecting my senses with the wind spirits, I could see the person completely from where I sat, even without moving a single muscle. The stranger was not a tall person, being at a height of either a woman or a short man, but it was impossible to determine the sex from just that. Whoever that person was, they had wrapped themselves in a traveling cloak, completely obscuring all of their features.

Dammit. I had hoped to take this chance to relax a little, but I guess that wasn't meant to be. This was probably another one of those customers that got a little too zealous about the girls and was looking to ambush one in the back. Scarron and I had to deal with more than enough of them already.

I sighed. Well, I suppose I can't just let him go. Who knows? He might be after Louise or Siesta.

At my will, the wind spirits caused a strong gust of wind to suddenly push the cloaked figure over and knocked him to the ground. Before he could stand back up, I had sprung to my feet and closed the distance between us, grabbing the person and dragging him back into the alley proper.

I grabbed him underneath an armpit and forcibly stood him back up. Then, without giving him time to react, I not too kindly pushed the front of his body against the stone wall, grabbing one of his wrists and locking it painfully behind his back as I did so.

"I'm only going to say this once," I said quietly over the person's hood where his ear would be. "You might think that the girls are interested in a stalker like you, but they're not. So after I release you, you're going to leave and never return here again. Otherwise, I'm going to have to hurt you very badly." To emphasize my point, I tightened my hold on his arm and forced it upward painfully, causing him to let out a high pitched squeak of pain. "Understood?"

"Kazuma. It's me," the cloaked person said with a strained female voice.

I blinked momentarily. Then I released my hold on her and said, "Queen Henrietta?"

"Yes," Henrietta said as she turned around and winced as she rubbed her wrist and shoulder painfully. "Is there some place we can talk privately? Without being seen?"

I nodded and brushed my hand across the air. The light dimmed as the wind spirits gathered around us and formed a dimensional kekkai that removed us from the rest of the world.

"Sorry about that," I said. "No one can hear or see us now"

"It's fine. What is this?" Henrietta asked curiously as she removed the hood of her cloak, revealing her chestnut brown hair and her face.

"A barrier that completely removes us from the rest of the world, so long as it holds," I summarized. "It's undetectable and unbreakable to your people's magic. We can talk in total secrecy here."

"Good," Henrietta nodded. "Then I won't stand on ceremony. I need your help, Kazuma."

"Of course you do," I said sarcastically, causing Henrietta to smile slightly at my quip. "The question is, do you have the money to pay for it?"

"Not now," Henrietta said, "but after this is done, I can pay you."

"What are the job details?" I asked. "We can discuss the price after."

Henrietta glanced around at the boundaries of the barrier again, staring off into deep, black abyss beyond that of the glowing silver winds. "You're certain that no one will be able to see or hear us in here?"

"Positive," I said. "It's not even a question of skill or power. It's a matter of a fundamental difference between our magics. Only my maid might be able to detect the barrier, but she doesn't have the power to break it."

The queen nodded again. "Very well. Do you recall how Reconquista sent a resurrected Prince Wales to kidnap me?"

I nodded, silently prompting her to continue.

"Once I was returned to the palace, I began investigating just how he was able to so easily breach the palace's defenses," Henrietta said. "It should have been impossible for him to do so. My guards are not that inept. What I found was... how to say it... disconcerting."

"Which means you suspect someone on the inside helped him?" I said, finishing the train of thought I suspected she was leading me through.

"Indeed," Henrietta confirmed. "All evidence points to one person, but because of his high position, that amount of evidence is insufficient to prove his guilt in the court. So instead, we've set a trap."

"A trap?" I arched an eyebrow. "Sounds interesting. Do tell."

"By faking my own disappearance, I plan to lure out the traitor and his accomplices and then capture them," Henrietta said. "I've already positioned members of the Musketeer Corps to watch his movements. All I need is a bodyguard I can trust to keep me safe and undetected until tomorrow."

"I see. By disappearing, you make the traitor wonder if this is the work of his faction and he is simply uninformed about it or if this is the work of a third, unknown faction. Either way, he'll likely make contact with his accomplices to discuss the matter," I mused. Then I nodded once. "Then, there is the matter of payment."

"500 gold coins," Henrietta offered.

"Hm... A little low," I said, causing Henrietta's eyes to narrow. "But given how easy this job seems, it's acceptable."

"Excellent," Henrietta said. "By the way, would you happen to have any spare clothes I could use?" The queen opened her cloak enough to show her clean and prim white dress. "These clothes are not exactly suited for the task at hand."

"That's true," I nodded. "We can borrow my maid's clothes. I'll apologize to her about it later. Here, hold onto my hand."

"Why?" Henrietta asked curiously even as she reached out to take my offered hand.

"You don't want to be seen, right?" I said before ordering the wind spirits around us to shield us from the eyes of others, rendering us both invisible. After that was done, I dispersed the kekkai around us.

Like that, I led Henrietta into the inn and up the stairs to where Siesta and my room was. It was only once we were safely in the room with the door closed and locked that I released the wind spirits and we became visible once more.

Without a word, I gestured over to the closet Siesta kept her clothes in. Henrietta walked over to it and began picking out a few clothes. Without an ounce of shame, she stripped off her cloak and her dress so that she was nearly naked, save for her bra and underwear.

Fortunately, Henrietta and Siesta were of similar size, so her clothes fit Henrietta comfortably. I couldn't help but imagine what would have happened if Siesta had not come with me and Louise on this mission. Henrietta would probably have had been forced to try and wear Louise's clothes, and given the massive difference in size in the breast department, I doubt it would have fit at all.

"Out of curiosity, would you rather have me simply hide you in a barrier like before?" I asked. "I can keep that level of a barrier up for days, at the very least. Probably weeks."

"No," Henrietta replied as she finished dressing. "I'll need to be able to be contacted if I want to know when to begin the next phase of the plan."

"Just as well," I said. "I was getting tired of doing the dishes nonstop anyway. This will be a good as excuse as any to skip out on it."

"Being lazy is not a good thing," Henrietta chided.

"If you'd rather, I could stay here and keep working dutifully, then," I said jokingly.

"Mou... This time I'll overlook your laziness," Henrietta smiled. "Let's go."

I glanced over Henrietta's disguise briefly. Then I shook my head. "Tie up your hair and unbutton the top few buttons."

"Why?" Henrietta asked, perplexed.

"The hair to keep you from being easily recognized and the buttons because you look too modest to be a regular city girl," I said as I looked at her fully buttoned up blouse. "Oh, and while you're at it, why don't you go ahead and use a bit of makeup?"

"Understood," Henrietta said and did as I suggested. After a few minutes, she said, "There."

I looked at the queen in disguise again. She was dressed in a simple white blouse, newly unbuttoned at the top to reveal a sizable portion of her cleavage, and a short skirt that revealed her slim, white legs. Her makeup was kept light, emphasizing her own natural beauty. Satisfied that her disguise was sufficient, I nodded and held out my hand for Henrietta again. Once she took it, I turned us invisible once more until we were out in the back alley again.

"Do you have a place in mind to hide in, Henrietta?" I asked as we began walking down the street in plain sight.

"Call me Ann," Henrietta said. "And yes. I do. This way."

Following Henrietta's directions, the two of us walked down main street at a casual pace, pretending to be an ordinary couple on a date. For a time, we did not meet any trouble. Hardly anyone spared more than a passing glance at us as we walked. It was only when we reached the end of the road that we came across a problem: a road block.

A solid block of guards was positioned at the intersection, stopping every woman that passed by in order to check their face as they searched for their missing queen.

"Hmm," I murmured as I glanced around. The street was too crowded for us to simply turn invisible without notice. In that case, we would have to find an alternate path to detour around the road block, or at least find a place where I can turn us invisible.

Henrietta, however, seemed to have a different plan.

"Lean in close to me, like a lover," Henrietta whispered as she took my arm, wrapped it around her shoulders, and stuck my hand down between her cleavage.

In that manner, we brazenly walked right past the guards, who were too busy ogling at Henrietta's boobs to check her face.

We repeated this charade two more times before we finally reached our destination: a small, rundown inn near the outskirts of town. Judging by the room we had rented, I could safely assume that this place hadn't been cleaned in at least a decade or so. Its bed was strangely damp and had one leg broken and propped up by a rotting old book. In the corner of the room, there was a tiny garden of mushrooms growing freely. The room's lone light source, an old lamp, was so thickly caked with black soot that even when lit, it did no more than give the room a dull glow only barely bright enough to allow for us to see each other. Finally, a small window was positioned such that no sunlight entered through it during this time of the day. Or perhaps that was simply because it was so dirty that it completely blocked out any light?

"Nice place, Ann," I commented dryly. "Do you bring the guys here often?"

"No one would ever expect a queen to hide in a place like this. In that regard, it's perfect," Henrietta said as she sat down on the rickety old bed. "But don't worry. You're the first man I've brought with me here."

"I'm honored," I smiled at her quip as I sat down on the lone chair in the room. "So? What did you want to do now while we wait? If you want to sleep, I can keep watch, just in case."

"No, I'm fine," Henrietta said. "But tell me, how is Louise doing?"

"She's doing fine," I said. "She had some problems adapting to the inn's lifestyle at first, but she's acclimated well."

"That's good to hear," Henrietta said. "The information she's been sending me has been very precise and most useful, but I've been worried about her being out of her element."

"I'm sure she'll be happy to know that," I said.

"Say, Kazuma," Henrietta said. "There is one thing I'd like to verify with you."

"What?"

"Did you kill Chulenne?" Henrietta asked bluntly.

I looked at Henrietta and smiled. "Who?"

"I know you know him," Henrietta said with narrowed eyes. "Louise told me about the fight you and your maid had with him at the inn."

Dammit, Louise. And after I had taken care to kill Chulenne without leaving any evidence behind, you just had to go and tattle on me. I sighed. But, well, I suppose I can't blame her too much. It was to be expected. Her loyalty, after all, was to Henrietta first and foremost.

"Oh right," I said. "Now I remember. He's that tax collector that came by that day. Yes, we got into a bit of a scuffle over the way he treated my maid, but my maid ejected them from the premises easily."

"Kazuma," Henrietta said seriously. "Enough games. Did you or did you not kill Chulenne?"

I scratched my head. "What would you do if I said that I did?"

"Nothing," Henrietta said simply. "I do not have the power or resources to spare at the present to try and arrest you. But you know, Chulenne was already scheduled for an evaluation and would have been punished in accordance with the law. I overlooked your murder of Mott because he had done things deserving of death, but Chulenne's crimes were not so terrible that he deserved that much. So I suppose I would simply ask: why?"

"If you want my honest answer, it's because he touched my maid, and that angered me," I shrugged indifferently.

Henrietta sighed and shook her head. "You realize I can't simply allow you to continue killing nobles whose crimes don't deserve death."

"I suppose not."

"I have no desire to make you my enemy, Kazuma," Henrietta said sternly. "So if I were to ask, would you cease pointlessly killing the nobles and leave me to punish them properly?"

"Fine," I shrugged. "So long as you do."

"Good," Henrietta said with a smile.

Just then, the crackling sound of lightning sundered the air and was quickly accompanied by the sound of heavy rain. At the sound of the rain, Henrietta began shivering.

"Is something wrong?" I asked as Henrietta stared out the window.

"It's the rain." Henrietta shook her head sadly. "I've come to hate the rain after _that _night."

"Ah," I simply said, recalling her last moments with her dead lover, Wales. "I see."

"Kazuma," Henrietta said unusually timidly, her gaze pointed downward in an embarrassed posture. "Could I ask you to do something for me?"

"Hm?"

"Could you hold my shoulders, please?"

I considered the timid queen for a moment. Then, without a word, I stood up and walked over to her, and sat down at her side as I wrapped my arm around her trembling shoulders. Henrietta rested her head against my body and closed her eyes, her trembling as unceasing as the rain that fell from the sky.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

It was nearly three hours later that the rain ceased to fall heavily and turned into a light drizzle, and it was only then that Henrietta finally pulled herself away from me.

"Feeling better?" I asked.

"Yes." Henrietta sighed mournfully. "I'm sorry. I know that wasn't like me, but..." She sighed again and said only one word. "Wales."

"I understand," I said.

"Kazuma, I-" Henrietta began to say.

"Guards are coming," I interrupted instantly as the wind spirits informed me of approaching presences. They were already beginning to climb up the stairs. As it stood, they would be at our door in less than twenty seconds. "I'll hide us."

"No, wait," Henrietta said quickly. "They'll have asked the owner of the inn if there is anyone in here already. If we disappear now, it'll be suspicious."

I glanced aside briefly at the door. The sounds of heavy footsteps could now be heard more audibly. Ten seconds.

"What do you want to do then?" I asked.

"It can't be helped. Follow my lead," Henrietta said as her hands moved like a blur as they stripped off her blouse and bra, baring naked her entire upper body, and flung them aside. Then, she wrapped her arms around my neck and pushed me down onto the bed with her on top of me, and then forced her tongue into my mouth.

Just as she did that, loud banging from the door resounded throughout the room.

"Open up! We are the royal guards searching for dangerous criminals! In the name of Her Majesty, open this door!"

I placed an arm over Henrietta's slim waist and another over her butt and closed my eyes, using instead the senses of the spirits to maintain watch over the door.

"That's it, we're coming in!"

The door was slammed open as the guards broke it down and stormed into the room. However, upon seeing the figure of a mostly naked woman lying on top of a man, wrapped in tight embrace and letting loose quiet moans of affection, all of their previous zeal immediately died down and was replaced by an awkward atmosphere.

"Just a couple enjoyin' the night," one of the guards murmured to his companions. "_Really_ enjoyin' it. Let's go."

The guards left the room as quietly as they could and gently closed the door behind them (how considerate of them), but just in case, I kept an eye on them as they left the building, watching them go until they had departed a fair distance from the inn.

Despite the fact that the guards were gone, Henrietta continued to lock lips with me, tracing the inside of my mouth and seeking my tongue with her own tongue. I had barely even noticed it until this point, as I had been too focused instead on keeping an eye on the guards. But now that my attention was returned to the room, to Henrietta, it was difficult to remain ignorant.

It was nearly ten minutes later when Henrietta finally parted lips from me.

"Henrietta?" I murmured.

"Ann. I told you to call me Ann."

"List-" I began to say, but was cut off when Henrietta placed her lips on mine again.

Unlike before, this was not a forced kiss. This one was gentler and full of emotion. But it was not a happy kiss either. It was one born of sadness and grief.

"Do you have a lover, Kazuma?" Henrietta whispered into my ear.

For a brief moment, Siesta's face came to mind, but was quickly replaced by the memories of Tsui Ling. The memory of her finding me and offering me a home after I arrived in China. The memory of falling in love with her. And ultimately, the memory of her being sacrificed to a demon.

"I did," I simply said.

"Did?" Henrietta said, a hopeful note in her voice. "Not anymore, then?"

"No. Not anymore," I confirmed.

"Then please treat me as your lover," Henrietta murmured as she began nibbling on my earlobe.

"Henr-... Ann, listen," I began.

"I'm not saying to take me as a lover," Henrietta interrupted, her voice starting to become colored by a pleading tone. "But just for tonight, please hold me, kiss me as your lover."

I placed my hands on Henrietta's shoulders and gently pulled her off of me so that we were staring at each other in the eyes.

"Ann," I said. "If you really love me or if you just want to have some fun, I don't mind treating you as a lover tonight. But I am not Prince Wales."

"... I know," Henrietta sighed, her eyes glistening sadly. She slowly rested her head back down against my body. I placed a hand on her head and gently patted her. "I'm sorry. That was insulting to both you and the memory of Wales."

"It's fine," I said.

"Kazuma," Henrietta said softly, "do you know what the two worst positions in life are?"

"No."

"A slave and a ruler," Henrietta murmured. "I do not believe I need to explain why being a slave is awful, but being a ruler is far too big a burden for one person to bear. It is crushing."

"Some people would disagree with you," I said. "Some people lie and kill to become king."

"Then those people are fools," Henrietta said without rancor, as if she were clinically stating a simple fact of life. "They know nothing of what it is like being the sole leader of a country. It is a heavy burden, one with few, if any, friends to share it with and many enemies to add onto it. And every action taken only begets more and more enemies. I've tried to be a just queen, Kazuma, and though the commoners and lesser nobles love me for it, many of the most powerful noble families have come to detest me. It would not be at all unusual if I were to be assassinated by them one day. But if I cater to the whims of those families, I abandon the lower classes and create enemies of them, and though that may be the easier path, it is a recipe for disaster for the country in the long term."

"And besides," I said, "doing that would truly be unlike you."

"Yes, it would," Henrietta said with a small smile. "It is a terrible burden, but one that I have never once regretted being born with. If I had not, I would not have the chance to make this country better than what it is. And I would never have met Prince Wales. But even if I've never regretted it, I am still so tired of bearing it alone. Once, Wales served as my support. The one I could turn to whenever I needed reprieve from the burden of royalty. But now he's gone," Henrietta said bitterly, "killed, and the only support I have left is my thirst for revenge."

"And this displeases you," I noted.

"I am no fool," Henrietta said. "Even now, I understand that revenge is meaningless and self-destructive. Whatever I do, doesn't matter. Wales will never come back. But even so... even so..."

"Even so, you can't let those who killed him live," I finished softly, understanding exactly what Henrietta was feeling. I had felt the same thing before. "You can never accept the fact that Prince Wales is dead and his murderers still live."

"Yes," Henrietta sighed ruefully. "Have you taken revenge before, Kazuma?"

"I have."

"Were you successful?"

"I was."

"Can I ask, then," Henrietta said, "were you satisfied after getting your revenge?"

"No."

"Then, do you regret it?"

"No," I said. "To me, it was not about satisfaction or regret or right and wrong. It was about necessity. Killing him was a need for me as real and strong as the need to breath. I could never allow a world where he lived and Tsui Ling was dead."

"Tsui Ling?" Henrietta latched onto the name. "Was that your lover's name?"

"Yes," I said simply.

I had not intended to say Tsui Ling's name, but perhaps it was because of our similar stories that had made it easier to slip out of my mouth. Like me, Henrietta had suffered the loss of her most cherished person at the hands of another, though unlike me, she had to see him returned to a facsimile of life under his killer's - her enemy's - control. A cruel act that would have infuriated me even more than it did Henrietta. Perhaps, then, that was why I felt a strange connection between us as comrades who had experienced the same type of loss. It was a connection that part of me wanted to deny, but another part wanted to accept.

"I see," Henrietta said. "Then let me ask you, someone who has traveled further along the path of vengeance than I, am I wrong for doing this? For taking my country to war and ordering the deaths of my people for the sake of my own revenge?"

It seemed that Henrietta did not intend to pry too deeply into my own past. I was both thankful and a little disappointed.

"Yes," I said so bluntly that Henrietta visibly winced beneath the blow. "But as I said before, right and wrong has nothing to do with revenge. Only that it is necessary for someone like me. For someone like us."

"In other words, to take my revenge, I must be willing to become a villain," Henrietta said bitterly.

"Yes," I said again, but this time more gently. "Will you still seek revenge?"

"I will," Henrietta said in a tone that carried both determination and resignation. "As you said, it is something I need to do. I can never forgive the fact that Reconquista remains in this world for even a second longer. So I will crush them as fast as I can and completely destroy them. Therefore, might I be able to rely on you for help in order to minimize the loss of the lives of my people?"

"I'll expect payment," I said.

"Our budget is tight," Henrietta informed me. "With all the war preparations, I fear I do not have much more I can offer you."

I frowned. "I'm not in the business of charity. You know that, right?"

"I know," Henrietta said. "Even so, your support would be invaluable. Would you not consider at least going to protect Louise? I plan to have her there as my representative as well."

"... I'll consider it."

"Thank you," Henrietta smiled. Then she sighed peacefully and closed her eyes. "I'm tired now. Would you mind if I sleep for a while?"

"Not at all, Ann," I said. "Rest. I'll keep watch."

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Big place," I commented dryly as Henrietta and I arrived at our destination. "What was it called again? The Royal Tanajiku Theater?"

"The Royal Tanaijiru Theater," Henrietta corrected.

It had been in the early light of morning that a messenger owl finally arrived, scratching at the dirty window of our dirty room. Either because she had been too worried about the plan or was simply a light sleeper, that quiet sound had been enough on its own to awaken Henrietta. After one quick scan of the message the owl bore, Henrietta had let loose a victorious grin and quickly dressed herself before we departed from that dingy inn.

The place that the trap had been set was the Royal Tanaijiru Theater. It was the largest theater in the entire city and, more importantly, it was where the traitor was currently waiting to meet the Reconquista spies, completely unaware of Henrietta's trap. Already, the Musketeers had formed a ring around the theater, preventing anyone from escaping without notice. Whoever the traitor was, they were in for a big surprise.

"Kazuma!"

Henrietta and I looked towards the source of the noise. Running at us was Siesta, with Louise and Agnes trailing behind her. For some reason, both the captain of the Musketeer Corps and the pink-haired Void mage were absolutely soaked, as if they had been standing out in the rain for hours.

"Siesta," I managed to say before she nearly knocked me to the ground in a tackle-hug.

"Where were you?" Siesta demanded tearfully. "Everyone at the inn has been worried sick!"

"Ah, sorry, Siesta," I said as I gently patted her on the head. "Everything's fine."

"Your Highness!" Louise said frantically as she and Agnes caught up with Siesta. "What's going on? We heard you were kidnapped again, so I went looking for you, but Agnes said that it wasn't actually a kidnapping, and why is Kazuma with you?"

"Slow down, Louise," Henrietta smiled. "My apologies for worrying you. Rest assured, I was not kidnapped. Everything is part of my own plan. As for Kazuma, I simply had to borrow him for a while as a bodyguard. Forgive me for not telling you about anything."

"As long as you're safe, I'm satisfied, Your Highness," Louise sighed in relief. "But in the future, please do not hesitate to call upon me for support as well."

"I'll remember that," Henrietta said. "Thank you."

"Wait a minute," Siesta suddenly said suspiciously as she began sniffing my clothes. "Kazuma, why do you have a woman's smell on you?"

Henrietta and I shared a very brief glance, before she blushed slightly and averted her gaze. Siesta, not having missed that little gesture, immediately narrowed her eyes in suspicion and glared at Henrietta. I could practically hear the cogs of her minds at work as she quickly made the correct conjectures and connected the dots.

"Even if you're the queen, I'm not giving up Kazuma!" she declared hotly. Then, as if it was an afterthought, she added, "And why are you wearing my clothes?"

"She needed to be able to blend in with the crowd," I explained, "so we had to borrow them. Sorry about that."

"Hmph," Siesta pouted.

"Wait," Louise said suspiciously, having arrived at a similar conclusion as Siesta. "Kazuma. What is it that you did with Her Highness?"

"Hm?" I grinned at her. "Oh, you know. A little of this, a little of that."

"Kaaazuuumaaa!" Louise snarled angrily. "She's the queen! What do you mean 'a little of this, a little of that!?'"

"Master!" Siesta said with as much anger as Louise, though for wholly different reasons. Whereas Louise's anger was being fueled by protectiveness for her queen, Siesta's was one of simple jealousy.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," I said, holding my hands up in a placating gesture. "I just helped her stay hidden from the guards. That's all, I swear."

That, strictly speaking, was not a lie. And they didn't need to know exactly _how_ we remained hidden, after all. Both Louise and Siesta, however, remained unconvinced and were glaring at me suspiciously.

"In any case," Henrietta interjected. "Agnes. Status report."

"The Musketeers are ready and in position, Your Highness," Agnes said, looking amused by the proceedings. "The underground escape tunnels have already been sealed by Matilda, and the Manticore Knights should be here any minute as well."

The sound of buffeting wings alerted the others to the presence of the large creatures high above us. They were fantastic beasts that had a lion's head and body, a dragon's wings, and a scorpion-like tail, and each carried a man or woman on its back.

"Ah, speaking of the devils..." Agnes murmured.

Upon landing, the knights riding them quickly jumped off the large beasts and practically stormed over to us.

"Agnes, what is the meaning of this?" the foremost knight demanded angrily as he waved a piece of parchment in his hand. "You told me in the letter that Queen Henrietta would be here! Well? Where is she?"

"Captain," Henrietta said sternly, calling attention to herself.

The knight turned to Henrietta, and for a moment he simply stared at her. Then, as recognition dawned on his face, he immediately dropped to one knee in a bow. "Your Highness! Forgive me, I did not recognize you!"

"Do not worry about such trifles," Henrietta said and then began to issue her orders to the Manticore Knights.

As she did that, Agnes came up to me, still soaking wet, and said, "That maid of yours is quite a handful. Loyal too."

"What did she do?" I asked curiously.

"Apparently, she spent all day and night scouring the city for you after you disappeared," Agnes said. "When she found us, I told her that you were safe. Lady Valliere then ordered her to return to the inn and wait for us, but your maid demanded she be taken along as well, and then attacked us when we refused and threatened us into bringing her along."

So that explains why the two of them were absolutely soaked.

Agnes chuckled and shook her head in amusement. "Heh. First Lady Valliere, and then your maid. The women that hang around you are certainly tough girls."

"Agnes," Henrietta called. "We're starting. Get in position."

"Understood, Your Highness," Agnes called back before turning back to me. "Anyways, that's all I wanted to say."

With a friendly slap on my back, Agnes left, following after Henrietta into the theater as the Manticore Knights took their positions in the skies overlooking the building. Once they were gone, Siesta and Louise immediately began bombarding me with questions, and I sighed as I resigned myself to answering them.

**-SCENE BREAK-**

"Damn that whore queen," Richmon snarled beneath his breath as he walked down the secret underground passage that led from the theater all the way to his own mansion, using a spell to cause the tip of his wand to shine brightly like a lamp. "How dare she ruin my plans like this? I'll kill her! No, that's too good for that bitch. I'll get Cromwell to give me some soldiers, and then I'm going to kidnap her and rape her before I kill her."

But even as Richmon continued indulging in his dark fantasies of revenge, he suddenly stopped walking. There, barring his path was a stone slab that completely walled off the tunnel, preventing him from moving onward. And there, leaning against the wall with arms crossed casually across her chest, with a wand hanging carelessly from one hand, and with an amiable smile on her face, was a beautiful green-haired woman.

"Hi," the woman smiled and waved in a friendly manner.

"Foquet," Richmon growled angrily.

"Now, now, Lord Richmon," the former magethief said cheerfully. "I discarded that name when I began working for Her Majesty. Call me Matilda."

"How did you find this place?" Richmon demanded.

Matilda rolled her eyes. "Did you really think that Her Highness wouldn't even consider the possibility of a secret escape tunnel? If that's the case, you really are as dumb as you look."

"How dare you insult me, you filthy thief!" Richmon snarled.

In response, Matilda bowed gratefully as if she had just been given a compliment.

"So what? I take it that you're here to capture me?" Richmon sneered. "If that's the case, then _you're_ the fool. You think that you, a mere thief, can beat me? A former member of the elite Plagueburners?"

"Oh, of course not," Matilda smiled genially. "I'm only here to cut off your retreat. The one who will kill you is behind you."

"Richmon," a new voice said from behind him.

Richmon immediately whirled around and raised his wand towards the source of the new voice. A woman of average height, with short blond hair, emerald colored eyes, and burns that ran across a cheek and down to her body. Slung across her back was a sheathed longsword that looked too large and cumbersome for her to use properly, and barely visible from beneath her cloak were two pistols strapped in their holsters at her hips.

"Agnes," Richmon sneered. "You think you can kill me? You two would be better off letting Foquet fight me. No, better yet, both of you ought to come at me together."

"Unfortunately," Matilda sighed with mock disappointment, "I'm not one to interfere with another's revenge."

"Richmon," Agnes said again in a cold voice. "Twenty years ago, you were among the Plagueburners that burned the town of D'Angletarre, town that was not infected, and had been burned because of Romalia's damn 'Protestant Hunt.'"

"And?" Richmon said.

"I am Agnes of D'Angletarre," Agnes said. "And I will kill you."

"Oh? A survivor of that town? I see, I see." Richmon chuckled in amusement. "Then, though this is twenty years late, allow me to finish that job!"

Even as he said that, Richmon launched a fireball at Agnes, who rolled to the side and just barely dodged. In the same motion, she unsheathed the sword from her back; a large, rusty looking thing.

"You think you can fight me with a rusty piece of junk? You can barely even wield it!" Richmon laughed as he launched three more fireballs. "I'm insulted that you would challenge me with such toys!"

This time, instead of attempting to dodge, Agnes simply held the sword out in front of her, wielding it in both hands to do so, and made subtle movements to intercept the flames with the blade. Immediately upon touching the sword, the fireballs vanished, as if they were simply absorbed by the blade.

"What manner of trickery is this?" Richmon said angrily.

"No trickery, scum," Agnes replied hatefully. "I bought this sword precisely to use against mages like you."

"Yeah! Since you're against the great Derflinger, there's no way you can win now!" the sword said.

Had it been in a more normal situation, Richmon would have probably been more surprised by the fact that the sword was talking. But that fact was irrelevant now in this duel to the death. What mattered was that it, somehow, held the ability to absorb his spells. Richmon spat angrily. That meant that this duel might not be as easy as he had expected.

"Your sword may have saved you this time," Richmon said. "But it cannot absorb a spell that comes from all directions! _Tendrils of Fire!"_

The spell _Tendrils of Fire _did exactly as its name suggested; it created tendrils of pure fire. In terms of lethality, these were among the weaker fire spells, rarely ever killing their targets in any reasonable amount of time. Instead, they were typically used more for things such as torture and incapacitation. In that regard, it was to fire spells as whips were to weapons: non-lethal, painful, and dangerous. However, that was only when considering one tendril. What sprouted from the tip of Richmon's wand were dozens of tendrils that spread out in the tunnel and struck towards Agnes from all directions.

Richmon sneered victoriously. Even if Agnes could cut down one or two of the tendrils, it was humanly impossible to stop them all without magic.

But then, instead of even trying to use her sword, Agnes dropped Derflinger and stuck her hands beneath her cloak. What emerged in her hands was a large, full bag and a pistol. She threw that bag at Richmon, and just as it was about to hit him, she shot it in the air, causing it to burst and unleash a large amount of water all over him and his wand. In doing so, she immediately extinguished all of the fire tendrils all at once by extinguishing them at the source.

"You bitch!" Richmon spluttered as he wiped off the water from his face with a hand.

Before Richmon could recover his composure and begin casting a new spell, Agnes had already begun moving. She had quickly tossed aside her now useless pistol, grabbed Derflinger from the ground, and dashed across the distance between them to bury the talking sword straight into the noble's guts. The force of Agnes' attack knocked Richmon backwards onto his back.

"Tell me, are these still toys to you?" Agnes said as she stood over Richmon and pointed her second pistol directly at Richmon's forehead.

"Wait, please!" Richmon pleaded helplessly. "I'm sorry! Please forgive me! I'll pay whatever you want!"

"That's not going to do you any good," Matilda called out cheerfully. "And you really shouldn't have underestimated her."

"Please! Don't kill me!" Richmon begged, tears streaming down his face now.

"The people of D'Angletarre asked of you the same thing," Agnes replied hatefully. "I give you the same answer that you gave them. Die."

_Bang!_


End file.
